Mennella J A, Jagnow C P, Beauchamp G K
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Pediatrics. 2001 Jun;107(6):E88. doi: 10.1542/peds.107.6.e88.
Flavors from the mother's diet during pregnancy are transmitted to amniotic fluid and swallowed by the fetus. Consequently, the types of food eaten by women during pregnancy and, hence, the flavor principles of their culture may be experienced by the infants before their first exposure to solid foods. Some of these same flavors will later be experienced by infants in breast milk, a liquid that, like amniotic fluid, comprises flavors that directly reflect the foods, spices, and beverages eaten by the mother. The present study tested the hypothesis that experience with a flavor in amniotic fluid or breast milk modifies the infants' acceptance and enjoyment of similarly flavored foods at weaning.
Pregnant women who planned on breastfeeding their infants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups. The women consumed either 300 mL of carrot juice or water for 4 days per week for 3 consecutive weeks during the last trimester of pregnancy and then again during the first 2 months of lactation. The mothers in 1 group drank carrot juice during pregnancy and water during lactation; mothers in a second group drank water during pregnancy and carrot juice during lactation, whereas those in the control group drank water during both pregnancy and lactation. Approximately 4 weeks after the mothers began complementing their infants' diet with cereal and before the infants had ever been fed foods or juices containing the flavor of carrots, the infants were videotaped as they fed, in counterbalanced order, cereal prepared with water during 1 test session and cereal prepared with carrot juice during another. Immediately after each session, the mothers rated their infants' enjoyment of the food on a 9-point scale.
The results demonstrated that the infants who had exposure to the flavor of carrots in either amniotic fluid or breast milk behaved differently in response to that flavor in a food base than did nonexposed control infants. Specifically, previously exposed infants exhibited fewer negative facial expressions while feeding the carrot-flavored cereal compared with the plain cereal, whereas control infants whose mothers drank water during pregnancy and lactation exhibited no such difference. Moreover, those infants who were exposed to carrots prenatally were perceived by their mothers as enjoying the carrot-flavored cereal more compared with the plain cereal. Although these same tendencies were observed for the amount of cereal consumed and the length of the feeds, these findings were not statistically significant.
Prenatal and early postnatal exposure to a flavor enhanced the infants' enjoyment of that flavor in solid foods during weaning. These very early flavor experiences may provide the foundation for cultural and ethnic differences in cuisine.
孕期母亲饮食中的味道会传递到羊水中并被胎儿吞咽。因此，婴儿在首次接触固体食物之前，可能就已经体验到了女性孕期所吃食物的种类，进而体验到了其文化中的风味原则。婴儿之后还会在母乳中体验到其中一些相同的味道，母乳这种液体，和羊水一样，包含的味道直接反映了母亲所吃的食物、香料和饮料。本研究检验了这样一个假设：在羊水或母乳中体验过某种味道会改变婴儿断奶时对同样味道食物的接受度和喜爱程度。
计划母乳喂养婴儿的孕妇被随机分为3组中的1组。在妊娠晚期，这些女性每周有4天饮用300毫升胡萝卜汁或水，持续3周，然后在哺乳期的前2个月再次饮用。一组母亲在孕期喝胡萝卜汁，哺乳期喝水；第二组母亲孕期喝水，哺乳期喝胡萝卜汁，而对照组母亲在孕期和哺乳期都喝水。在母亲开始用谷物补充婴儿饮食大约4周后，且在婴儿从未吃过含有胡萝卜味道的食物或果汁之前，给婴儿录像，在不同的测试环节中，婴儿按平衡顺序分别进食用水冲泡的谷物和用胡萝卜汁冲泡的谷物。每个环节结束后，母亲立即用9分制对婴儿对食物的喜爱程度进行评分。
结果表明，在羊水或母乳中接触过胡萝卜味道的婴儿，对食物基质中那种味道的反应与未接触过的对照组婴儿不同。具体而言，与吃普通谷物相比，之前接触过胡萝卜味道的婴儿在吃胡萝卜味谷物时表现出的负面面部表情更少，而母亲在孕期和哺乳期都喝水的对照组婴儿则没有这种差异。此外，与普通谷物相比，母亲认为那些在产前接触过胡萝卜的婴儿更喜欢吃胡萝卜味谷物。虽然在谷物摄入量和进食时长方面也观察到了同样的趋势，但这些结果在统计学上并不显著。
产前和产后早期接触某种味道会增强婴儿断奶时对固体食物中那种味道的喜爱。这些非常早期的味道体验可能为菜肴的文化和种族差异奠定基础。
