THE RATS ACCEPTANCE AND PREFERENCE FOR SUCROSE, MALTODEXTRIN, AND SACCHARIN SOLUTIONS AND MIXTURES

Prior work indicates that rats prefer a mixture of sucrose and maltode xtrin to either carbohydrate alone. The present experiment examined wh ether a sucrose + maltodextrin (S + M) mixture also increases total fl uid intake as does saccharin + carbohydrate mixtures. In 23 h/day, one -bottle tests male rats consumed more of a 1% sucrose + 1% maltodextri n mixture than they did of either 2% sucrose or 2% maltodextrin. Addin g 0.2% saccharin to the S + M mixture further stimulated consumption. The rats overconsumed the mixture solutions primarily by increasing bo ut size. In two-bottle choice tests the rats strongly preferred the S + M mixture to the 2% sucrose and 2% maltodextrin solutions and showed a nonreliable preference for the S + M + saccharin mixture to the S M mixture. The palatability of the S + M mixture is thought to be rel ated to the activation of separate ''sweet'' and ''maltodextrin'' tast es. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.