{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T18:01:31Z","timestamp":1785866491461,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]],"date-time":"2023-10-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1696982400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010101","name":"Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TCVGH-1127312C"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TCVGH-1127312C"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010101","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The effect of age and gender on taste function is rarely investigated. Therefore, we tried to study the effect of age and gender on taste function as evaluated by the Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT\u00ae). The WETT\u00ae consists of 40 strips that are coated with one of five tastants (sucrose, citric acid, sodium chloride, caffeine, or monosodium glutamate). Each tastant is prepared with four different concentrations. These 40 strips are interspersed with an additional 13 tasteless strips. To implement the WETT\u00ae, a strip was placed on the middle portion of the tongue. The subjects closed their mouth and tasted the strip. They then chose one of six answers (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, brothy, or no taste at all). If the answer was correct, one score was acquired. One-hundred-and-twenty healthy men and women were collected in this study. Among them, there were 40 subjects in each age group of 20\u201339 years, 40\u201359 years, and \u226560 years. The overall taste and individual tastant function decreased with age, particularly between subjects aged 20\u201339 years and those aged \u226560 years. The overall taste and individual tastant function were better in females than in males, especially for subjects aged older than 59 years. Our results show that taste function is affected by both age and gender.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics13203172","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]],"date-time":"2023-10-11T08:07:12Z","timestamp":1697011632000},"page":"3172","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Effect of Age and Gender on Taste Function as Measured by the Waterless Empirical Taste Test"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8280-6029","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rong-San","family":"Jiang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 407219, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medical Research, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 407219, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi-Fang","family":"Chiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei 112304, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1007\/s00405-013-2748-x","article-title":"Intensity of regionally applied tastes in relation to administration method: An investigation based on the \u201ctaste strips\u201d test","volume":"271","author":"Manzi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Eur. Arch. Oto-Rhino-Laryngol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e013246","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2016-013246","article-title":"Prevalence and risk factors of taste and smell impairment in a nationwide representative sample of the US population: A cross-sectional study","volume":"6","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Naciri, L.C., Mastinu, M., Melis, M., Green, T., Wolf, A., Hummel, T., and Tomassini Barbarossa, I. (2023). A supervised learning regression method for the analysis of the taste functions of healthy controls and patients with chemosensory loss. Biomedicines, 11.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202307.0194.v1"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"815","DOI":"10.1016\/j.otc.2018.03.014","article-title":"Age-related deficits in taste and smell","volume":"51","author":"Doty","year":"2018","journal-title":"Otolaryngol. Clin. N. Am."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1093\/chemse\/bjx076","article-title":"Aging decreases chorda-tympani nerve responses to NaCl and alters morphology of fungiform taste pores in rats","volume":"43","author":"Whiddon","year":"2018","journal-title":"Chem. Senses"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"556","DOI":"10.1017\/S0029665112000742","article-title":"Ageing and taste","volume":"71","author":"Methven","year":"2012","journal-title":"Proc. Nutr. Soc."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"594","DOI":"10.1002\/jnr.23819","article-title":"Contributory role of sex differences in the variations of gustatory function","volume":"95","author":"Martin","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Res."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"658","DOI":"10.1080\/00016480600951491","article-title":"Normative values for the assessment of gustatory function using liquid tastants","volume":"127","author":"Gudziol","year":"2007","journal-title":"Acta Oto-Laryngol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1016\/0197-4580(81)90041-5","article-title":"Age and sex effects on taste of sucrose, NaCl, citric acid and caffeine","volume":"2","author":"Hyde","year":"1981","journal-title":"Neurobiol. Aging"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"554","DOI":"10.1016\/j.otohns.2010.05.010","article-title":"Olfactory and gustatory function in healthy adult Chinese subjects","volume":"143","author":"Yang","year":"2010","journal-title":"Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"386","DOI":"10.1007\/s00415-010-5763-5","article-title":"A study about the frequency of taste disorders","volume":"258","author":"Dorig","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Neurol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1411","DOI":"10.1097\/MLG.0b013e31817709a0","article-title":"A test for measuring gustatory function","volume":"118","author":"Smutzer","year":"2008","journal-title":"Laryngoscope"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1007\/s00415-009-0088-y","article-title":"\u201cTaste Strips\u201d\u2014A rapid, lateralized, gustatory bedside identification test based on impregnated filter papers","volume":"256","author":"Landis","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Neurol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1396","DOI":"10.1097\/00005537-200008000-00033","article-title":"Assessment of gustatory function by means of tasting tablets","volume":"110","author":"Ahne","year":"2000","journal-title":"Laryngoscope"},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"146","article-title":"A test for the screening of taste function","volume":"35","author":"Hummel","year":"1997","journal-title":"Rhinology"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1528","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jds.2022.04.027","article-title":"Relationship between subjective taste sensations and taste strip test in patients with taste disorders with and without burning mouth syndrome","volume":"17","author":"Park","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Dent. Sci."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"864","DOI":"10.3758\/s13428-020-01463-8","article-title":"Validation of the Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT\u00ae)","volume":"53","author":"Doty","year":"2021","journal-title":"Behav. Res. Methods"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"506","DOI":"10.1177\/0145561320967337","article-title":"A pilot study of the Waterless Empirical Taste Test","volume":"101","author":"Jiang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ear Nose Throat J."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, J.J., Liang, K.L., Lin, W.J., Chen, C.Y., and Jiang, R.S. (2020). Influence of age and sex on taste function of healthy subjects. PLoS ONE, 15.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0227014"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1136","DOI":"10.1097\/JCMA.0000000000000796","article-title":"Validation of the clinical applicability of the brief self-administered waterless empirical taste test during the era of COVID-19","volume":"85","author":"Jiang","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Chin. Med. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e12745","DOI":"10.1111\/joss.12745","article-title":"Comparison of Chinese and American subjects on the self-administered Waterless Empirical Taste Test","volume":"2022","author":"Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Sens. Stud."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1770","DOI":"10.1044\/2023_AJSLP-22-00384","article-title":"The effect of genetic taste status on swallowing: A literature review","volume":"32","author":"Lee","year":"2023","journal-title":"Am. J. Speech Lang. Pathol."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1007\/s12263-014-0433-3","article-title":"Genetic variation in the hTAS2R38 taste receptor and food consumption among Finnish adults","volume":"9","author":"Sandell","year":"2014","journal-title":"Genes Nutr."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2669","DOI":"10.2174\/13816128113199990566","article-title":"Genetics of taste receptors","volume":"20","author":"Bachmanov","year":"2014","journal-title":"Curr. Pharm. Des."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1002\/lary.26198","article-title":"The genetics of the bitter taste receptor T2R38 in upper airway innate immunity and implications for chronic rhinosinusitis","volume":"127","author":"Cohen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Laryngoscope"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"322","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2005.01.047","article-title":"The molecular basis of individual differences in phenylthiocarbamide and propylthiouracil bitterness perception","volume":"15","author":"Bufe","year":"2005","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."}],"container-title":["Diagnostics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/13\/20\/3172\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T21:04:48Z","timestamp":1760130288000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/13\/20\/3172"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"20","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10]]}},"alternative-id":["diagnostics13203172"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/diagnostics13203172","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-4418"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-4418","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]]}}}