Houpt K A, Davis P P, Hintz H F
Am J Vet Res. 1982 May;43(5):841-3.
The importance of olfaction in perception of flavor by flavor-validating dogs was studied. The flavor-validation technique is widely used by pet food manufacturers to determine if a given formula is perceived by dogs as having the flavor of a specific meat. Five Beagles were trained as flavor validators; 2 dogs were trained to select beef and 3 to select lamb from a panel of 4 meats. When the dogs had been trained to select the correct meat on 100% of the trials, they were made anosmic. Reversible peripheral anosmia was produced in the dogs by inflating a cuff on a surgically implanted tracheostomy tube. When the cuff was inflated, air entered the trachea via the tracheostomy tube, rather than via the nasal cavity, and the percentage of correct choices on the flavor-validating test fell to 62 +/- 14%. When the tracheostomy tubes were removed, performance returned to 100% correct. The nasal cavities of 3 dogs were infused with zinc sulfate to produce a more complete and longer-lasting anosmia. The percentage of correct choice on the flavor-validation test fell to 24 +/- 5%. These findings indicate that the flavor-validation test is based primarily on one sensory modality, that of olfaction; therefore, formulas selected by flavor-validating dogs may smell similar to the specific meat, but do not necessarily taste similar to that meat.
研究了嗅觉在通过风味验证犬感知风味中的重要性。风味验证技术被宠物食品制造商广泛用于确定给定配方是否被犬类感知为具有特定肉类的风味。五只比格犬被训练为风味验证者；2只犬被训练从4种肉类中选择牛肉，3只犬被训练选择羊肉。当犬类在100%的试验中都能训练到选择正确的肉类时，使其嗅觉丧失。通过给手术植入的气管造口管上的袖带充气，在犬类中产生可逆性外周嗅觉丧失。当袖带充气时，空气通过气管造口管进入气管，而不是通过鼻腔，风味验证测试中正确选择的百分比降至62±14%。当气管造口管被移除时，表现恢复到100%正确。给3只犬的鼻腔注入硫酸锌以产生更完全和持久的嗅觉丧失。风味验证测试中正确选择的百分比降至24±5%。这些发现表明，风味验证测试主要基于一种感觉模式，即嗅觉；因此，通过风味验证犬选择的配方可能闻起来与特定肉类相似，但不一定尝起来与该肉类相似。
