Abstract
The gustatory responsiveness of four adult spider monkeys to five food-associated acids was assessed in two-bottle preference tests of brief duration (3 min). The animals were given the choice between a 30 mM sucrose solution and defined concentrations of citric acid, ascorbic acid, malic acid, acetic acid, or tannic acid dissolved in a 30 mM sucrose solution. With this procedure,Ateles geoffroyi was found to significantly discriminate concentrations as low as 5 mM ascorbic acid, citric acid, and acetic acid, 10 mM malic acid, and 0.1 mM tannic acid from the alternative stimulus. With the latter two substances, the monkeys rejected all suprathreshold concentrations tested, whereas with the former three substances, the animals showed an inverted U-shaped function of preference, i.e. they rejected high concentrations, but significantly preferred low but detectable concentrations of these acidic tastants over the alternative sweet stimulus. The results showed (1) the spider monkey to respond to the same range of acid concentrations as other nonhuman primate species; (2) thatAteles geoffroyi, is able to detect food-associated acids at concentrations well below those present in most fruits; and (3) that unlike most other primate species tested so far, spider monkeys do not generally reject acidic tastants but show a substanceand concentration-dependent change in responsiveness that may range from rejection to preference. The results support the assumptions that spider monkeys may use sourness and/or astringency of food-associated acids as a criterion for food selection, and that the gustatory responsiveness ofAteles geoffroyi to acidic tastants might reflect an evolutionary adaptation to frugivory.
References
Albach, R. F.;Redman, G. H.;Cruse, R. R.;Petersen, H. D., 1981. Seasonal variation of bitterness components, pulp, and vitamin C in Texas commercial citrus juices.J. Agric. Food Chem., 29: 805–808.
Astm 1973. Compilation of odor and taste threshold values data. Data Series DS 48. Amer. Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia.
Clutton-Brock, T. H. (ed.) 1977.Primate Ecology: Studies of Feeding and Ranging Behaviour in Lemurs, Monkeys and Apes. Academic Press, New York.
Gallina, D. L.;Ausman, L. M. 1979. Selected aspects of the metabolic behavior in the squirrel monkey. In:Primates in Nutritional Research,Hayes,K. C. (ed.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 225–247.
Glaser, D. 1986. Geschmacksforschung bei Primaten.Vjschr. Naturforsch. Ges. Zurich, 131: 92–110.
Glaser, D. 1989. Biological aspects of taste in South American primates.Medio Ambiente, 10: 107–112.
Glaser, D.;Hobi, G. 1985. Taste responses in primates to citric and acetic acid.Int. J. Primatol., 6: 395–398.
Goatcher, W. D.;Church, D. C. 1970. Taste responses in ruminants, IV: Reactions of pygmy goats, normal goats, sheep and cattle to acetic acid and quinine hydrochloride.J. Anim. Sci., 31: 373–382.
Goldstein, J. L.;Swain T. 1965. The inhibition of enzymes by tannins.Phytochemistry, 4: 185–192.
Hartwig, P.;McDaniel, M. R. 1995. Flavor characteristics of lactic, malic, citric, and acetic acids at various pH levels.J. Food Sci., 60: 384–388.
Hellekant, G.;Hladik, C. M.;Dennys, V.;Simmen, B.;Roberts, T. W.;Glaser, D.;DuBois, G.;Walters, D. E. 1993. On the sense of taste in two Malagasy primates (Microcebus murinus andEulemur mongoz).Chem. Senses, 18: 307–320.
Kinzey, W. G. 1997. Ateles. In:New World Primates,Kinzey,W. G. (ed.), Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 192–199.
Lang, C. M. 1970. Organoleptic and other characteristics of diet which influence acceptance by nonhuman primates. In:Feeding and Nutrition of Nonhuman Primates,Harris,R. S. (ed.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 263–275.
Laska, M. 1994. Taste difference thresholds for sucrose in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus).Folia Primatol., 63: 144–148.
Laska, M. 1996. Taste preference thresholds for food-associated sugars in the squirrel monkey,Saimiri sciureus.Primates, 37: 93–97.
Laska, M. 1997. Taste preferences for five food-associated sugars in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus).J. Chem. Ecol., 23: 659–672.
Laska, M. 1999. Taste responsiveness to food-associated acids in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus).J. Chem. Ecol., 25: 1623–1632.
Laska, M.;Carrera Sanchez, E.;Rodriguez Luna, E. 1996. Gustatory thresholds for food-associated sugars in the spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi).Amer. J. Primatol., 39: 189–193.
Laska, M.;Carrera Sanchez, E.;Rodriguez Luna, E. 1998. Relative taste preferences for food-associated sugars in the spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi).Primates, 39: 91–96.
Laska, M.;Scheuber, H.-P.;Carrera Sanchez, E.;Rodriguez Luna, E. 1999. Taste difference thresholds for sucrose in two species of nonhuman primates.Amer. J. Primatol., 48: 153–160.
Lyman, B. J.;Green, B. G. 1990. Oral astringency: effects of repeated exposure and interactions with sweeteners.Chem. Senses, 15: 151–164.
Marks, D.;Swain, T.;Goldstein, S.;Richard, A.;Leighton, M. 1988. Chemical correlates of rhesus monkey food choice: the influence of hydrolysable tannins.J. Chem. Ecol., 14: 213–235.
Milton, K.;Jenness, R. 1987. Ascorbic acid content of neotropical plant parts available to wild monkeys and bats.Experientia, 43: 339–342.
Nagy, S.;Shaw, P. E. (eds.) 1980,Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Composition, Nutritive Values, Properties and Uses. Avi Publ., Westport, Connecticut.
Plata-Salaman, C. R.;Scott, T. R.;Smith-Swintosky, V. L. 1995. Gustatory neural coding in the monkey cortex: acid stimuli,J. Neurophysiol., 74: 556–564.
Portman, O. W. 1970. Nutritional requirements of nonhuman primates. In:Feeding and Nutrition of Nonhuman Primates,Harris,R. S. (ed.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 117–142.
Pritchard, T. C.;Bowen, J. A.;Reilly, S. 1995. Taste thresholds in non-human primates.Chem. Senses, 20: 760.
Siegel, S.;Castellan, N. J. 1988.Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. McGraw Hill, New York.
Souci, S. W.;Fachmann, W.;Kraut, H. (eds.). 1989.Food Composition and Nutrition Tables. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Stevens, J. C. 1996. Detection of tastes in mixture with other tastes: issues of masking and aging.Chem. Senses, 21: 211–221.
Swain, T. 1979. Tannins and lignins. In:Herbivores: Their Interactions with Secondary Plant Metabolites,Rosenthal,G. A.;Janzen,D. H. (eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 657–682.
Ulrich, R. 1970. Constituents of fruits, 4: Organic acids. In:The Biochemistry of Fruits and their Products, Vol. 1,Hulme,A. C. (ed.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 89–117.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Laska, M., Hernandez Salazar, L.T., Luna, E.R. et al. Gustatory Responsiveness to food-associated acids in the spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi). Primates 41, 213–221 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02557803
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02557803