Relative taste preferences for food-associated sugars in the spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)

The purpose of the present study was to determine relative taste preferences for five food-associated sugars inAteles geoffroyi. Using two-solution choice tests of brief duration (5 min) four adult spider monkeys were given the choice between all binary combinations of sucrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, and maltose presented in equimolar concentrations of 20, 50, 100, and 200 mM respectively. Preferences for individual sugars were stable across the concentrations tested and indicate an order of relative effectiveness (sucrose>fructose>glucose≥lactose≥maltose) which is similar to results obtained with the same method in the squirrel monkey and to findings on relative sweetness in man. These results support the assumption that the order of relative effectiveness of the sugars under investigation found in the present study may represent a general pattern of preference in frugivorous and perhaps all primates.