Short-term taste behavior and copper/vitamin B-6 nutriture in Long-Evans rats.

The taste behavior of rats subjected to dietary depletions of copper and/or vitamin B-6 was tested. Weanling rats were fed casein-based methionine supplemented diets according to a 2 X 2 factorial design: -Cu/-vitamin B-6; -Cu/+vitamin B-6; +Cu/-vitamin B-6; +Cu/+vitamin B-6. Short-term (18 min) taste tests were conducted daily to assess the effects of the dietary treatment on taste stimuli intake behavior; body weight and ad lib food and water consumption were monitored during the study. These measures showed that dietary copper deficits had no apparent effect on growth, ingestive behavior or short-term intake of preferred taste stimuli but did cause a marginal depression in the short-term intake of quinine solution. In contrast, vitamin B-6 depleted rats reduced their ad lib consumption of food and water, failed to grow and exhibited elevated taste stimuli intake during short-term tests.