Department of Psychology, Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-7601, USA.
Chem Senses. 2010 Mar;35(3):229-38. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjq002. Epub 2010 Jan 25.
Discrimination of vapor-phase linoleic, oleic, and stearic fatty acids was studied using triangle tests. For each trial, 2 of the 3 modified odorant delivery containers (MODCs) had the same content and 1 was different. Contents were either mineral oil-diluted linoleic or oleic acids, with mineral oil in the other MODC (blanks) or undiluted stearic acid with NaCl in the other MODC (blanks). The task was to indicate which of the 3 MODC had the most different odor. Vapor-phase fatty acids and blanks were presented orthonasally, retronasally, or oral-cavity-only. It was found that all 3 fatty acids were discriminated from the blanks both orthonasally and retronasally, P <or= 0.01, one-tailed binomial tests. Orthonasally, 87% of 30 participants discriminated linoleic acid from blanks and 83% discriminated oleic and stearic acids. Retronasally, 93% discriminated linoleic acid from blanks, 57% discriminated oleic acid; 83% discriminated stearic acid. In contrast, with oral-cavity-only presentations, none of the fatty acids were discriminated from blanks, P > 0.05 (30% of 30 participants discriminated linoleic acid from blanks, P = 0.71; 47%, oleic and stearic acids, P = 0.09). These results demonstrate that human participants can discriminate linoleic, oleic, and stearic fatty acids both orthonasally and retronasally, confirming that humans can smell fatty acids.
采用三角测试法研究了气相亚油酸、油酸和硬脂酸的辨别情况。在每次试验中，三个改良气味传递容器（MODC）中的两个具有相同的内容，而一个不同。内容物为矿物油稀释的亚油酸或油酸，另一个 MODC 为矿物油（空白）或另一个 MODC 中的未稀释硬脂酸与 NaCl（空白）。任务是指出三个 MODC 中哪一个气味最不同。气相脂肪酸和空白通过鼻前、鼻后或口腔通道呈现。结果发现，所有三种脂肪酸在鼻前和鼻后均与空白区分开来，P<0.01，单侧二项式检验。鼻前，30 名参与者中有 87%能够区分亚油酸和空白，83%能够区分油酸和硬脂酸。鼻后，93%能够区分亚油酸和空白，57%能够区分油酸；83%能够区分硬脂酸。相比之下，通过口腔通道呈现时，没有一种脂肪酸与空白区分开来，P>0.05（30 名参与者中有 30%能够区分亚油酸和空白，P=0.71；47%，油酸和硬脂酸，P=0.09）。这些结果表明，人类参与者可以通过鼻前和鼻后辨别亚油酸、油酸和硬脂酸，这证实了人类可以闻到脂肪酸的气味。
