Psychophysical studies of mixtures of tastants

The human perception of mixtures of tastante was studied with reference to three central issues, i.e., 1) the paradigma of equiratio taste substance mixtures. as an instrument to manipulate the physical composition of tastant mixtures. This paradiama also enables the construction of psychophysical functions for tastant mixtures. 2) the way how the perceived intensity of a mixture is compared with the perceived taste intensities of the mixture'e unmixed components. and 3) the psychometrical properties of the response scale. Major conclusions of the studies in this thesis are 1) the sweetness intensity of a binary sugar mixture lies between the sweetness intensities of Its components, when each is tasted alone and at the same total molarity as the mixture, 2) application of a functional measurement approach in combination with a two stimulus procedure yields an interval scale of perceived taste intensity. and 3) the paradigms of equiratio taste substance mixtures is a powerful Instrument In the study of perceptual interaction phenomena in tastant mixtures.