Determinants of taste perception and classification among the Aymara of Bolivia

Twenty‐two Aymara‐speaking subsistence farmers were tested for response to pure aqueous solutions representing the basic four tastes. Survey methods provided data on diet composition and on the Aymara taste taxonomy. In comparison to typical western populations, subjects attributed increased pleasantness to sweetness and decreased pleasantness to salt, sour and bitter tastes that were not readily separable experimentally. High preference for glucose in young adults may be explained by caloric need related to undernutrition and/or altitude adaptation. Traditional and modern Aymara diets are dominated by bland and mildly bitter items, and lack a sour component. An expanded taste nomenclature for bitter substances, the absence of a clear concept for sourness, and decreased pleasantness ratings for sodium chloride, citric acid and quinine are all explicable by dietary experience. The unique taste taxonomy and taste preferences of the Aymara may have adaptive significance in the resource‐limited high‐altitude environment.

Key words:

• Taste
• taste hedonics
• folk taxonomy
• altitude adaptation
• dietary change
• Aymara

Notes

Current address for Timothy Johns is Division of Entomology and Parasitology, College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720. Current address for Susan L. Keen is Department of Zoology, University of California, Davis, California 95616.