The sense of taste has probably evolved to allow animals to choose and consume appropriate food. The most common natural taste stimuli that humans describe as sweet are sugars. Sugars are important nutrients for animals from many different species ranging from insects to mammals. In animals from many species, sugars are recognized by the taste system and evoke appetitive consummatory responses.[1] In addition to sugars, a wide range of other chemicals (referred to here as sweeteners), also evoke the sensation of sweetness in humans and are palatable to many other animals. Numerous studies have shown that the mechanisms of taste perception of sweeteners are similar in humans and non-human mammals. This justifies using laboratory animals, such as mice and rats, as model organisms to study mechanisms of sweet (sucrose-like) taste relevant to humans.
