| Research Abstract |
Sensations elicited by chemical and physical properties of food, such as taste, odor and texture, are important in ingestive behavior. This study aimed to examine the importance of texture, we conducted behavioral experiments in Wistar male rats using three kinds of pellets, A, Bs and Bh. When the rats were presented with two types of pellets, A and Bh, which have different ingredients but have similar hardness, they preferred Bh to A. When both foods made smashed into powder, the rats preferred A to Bh, indicating that the taste of A was better than Bh. On the other hand, when the rats were presented with two types of pellets, Bs and Bh, which have the same ingredients but have different hardness, they preferred soft food (Bs) to hard one (Bh). When both were powdered, the rats consumed them similarly because of the same taste. After ingestion of Bs was paired with an ip injection of 0.15M LiCl (2% of body weight), the animals preferred Bh to Bs. This finding suggests that the rats can discrimination foods on the basis of their texture. The present study suggests that the texture of food plays an important role in selection and ingestion of food.
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