Food habit and taste perception: a North and South Vietnam comparative study.

We focussed here on cultural habits and taste perception. In particular, we studied the impact of food habits on taste perception, identification, and appreciation. Previous work suggested that human populations leaving in extreme condition, poor in basic nutriments present a higher sensitivity for sweet and nutritive molecules. We are interested in evaluating whether such an influence of environment on gustatory sensitivity can be generalized to other situations. In this study we have compared sensitivity, identification and hedonic appreciation to saccharine, sodium chloride, quinine chlorhydrate and tartaric acid in a North (Hanoi) and a South (Ho Chi Minh) Vietnamese population. A surve…