Slashdot reader sciencehabit writes: One thing most cats seem to have in common is a deep love of tuna. That’s an odd predilection for a creature that evolved in the desert, with nary a fish in sight. Now scientists think they’ve nailed down the biology behind this curious craving.
In a series of experiments researchers showed for the first time that cats contain the necessary molecular machinery on their taste buds to detect umami–the savory, deep flavor of various meats, and one of the five basic tastes in addition to sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. In taste tests, the cats gravitated towards bowls of water laced with compounds present at high levels in umami foods. Indeed, umami appears to be the primary flavor that attracts cats–no surprise for an obligate carnivore.
But the team found something more remarkable: The felines showed a particular preference for bowls containing histidine and inosine monophosphate — compounds found at particularly high levels in tuna. “It was one of the most preferred combinations,” says one of the scientists. “It really seems to hit that umami sweet spot.”
The work doesn’t just explain why cats have a particular hankering for tuna. It could help manufacturers develop more palatable meals for our finicky friends and even medications that they won’t spit across the room.
Exactly why cats evolved a taste for tuna–or any kind of fish–remains a mystery. It may have been a taste they developed over time. As far back as 1500 B.C.E., cats are depicted eating fish in the art of Ancient Egypt. And by the Middle Ages, felines in some Middle Eastern ports were consuming large quantities of fish — including tuna — likely because they were feasting on the scraps left by fishers. In both cases, cats that evolved a taste for fish — and perhaps tuna in particular — may have had an advantage over their comrades who stuck solely to rodents and birds.
