Taste Interrelationships. V. Sucrose, Sodium Chloride, and Citric Acid in Lima Bean Puréea

SUMMARY A highly trained panel of nine judges determined the taste interactions of supra threshold concentrations of sucrose, sodium chloride, and citric acid in lima bean puree. The results were in good agreement with previous results with solutions of distilled water, in which: 1) sucrose and citric acid exhibited a mutual masking effect, and 2) sucrose and sodium chloride produced mutual masking except for low levels of sodium chloride (0.05 and 0.10%), which slightly enhanced the apparent sweetness of 0.4 and 0.8% sucrose. Sodium chloride generally depressed sourness, but citric acid significantly increased the saltiness of all levels of sodium chloride. The large amount of individual-judge variation, especially in the acid-salt comparisons, is discussed.