TABLE 2.

Pearson correlation between taste intensity and nutrients across unprocessed, processed, and ultra-processed food items (N = 189)¹

Characteristic	Energy	Protein	Fat	Carbohydrates	Mono- and disaccharides	Dietary fiber	Sodium
Model: Foods only
Unprocessed foods (n = 69)
Sweet	−0.02	−0.20	−0.11	0.31**	0.73**b	0.19	−0.16
Sour	−0.10	−0.14	−0.09	0.01	0.32**a	−0.05	−0.05
Bitter	−0.05	0.12	0.00	−0.15	−0.16	0.16	−0.10
Umami	0.13	0.47**	0.11	−0.19	−0.27*	−0.29*	0.76**ab
Salt	0.32**	0.58**b	0.28*	−0.10	−0.28*	−0.05	0.67**
Fat sensation	0.45**	0.58**a	0.43**	−0.05	−0.15	0.02	0.54**
Processed foods (n = 72)
Sweet	0.04	0.10	−0.02	0.05	0.39**	0.00	0.11a
Sour	−0.04	−0.04	−0.02	−0.04	0.09	0.03	0.20
Bitter	−0.12	−0.07	0.01	−0.11	0.08	0.01	−0.07
Umami	−0.08	0.34**	0.02	−0.35**	0.02a	−0.23	0.34**
Salt	0.17	0.08	0.36**	−0.26*	−0.08	−0.18	0.39**
Fat sensation	0.44**	0.26*	0.54**	−0.18	0.07	−0.11	0.44**
Ultra-processed foods (n = 48)
Sweet	0.35*	−0.16	0.32*	0.18	0.68**	−0.03	−0.49**
Sour	−0.22	−0.20	0.12	−0.37*	−0.20	−0.36*	0.40**
Bitter	0.28	−0.01	0.34*	0.06	0.33*	0.04	−0.03
Umami	−0.36*	0.25*	−0.01	−0.49**	−0.49**	−0.15	0.41**
Salt	−0.07	0.22	0.33*	−0.38**	−0.48**	−0.08	0.71**
Fat sensation	0.19	0.10	0.69**	−0.42**	0.05	−0.27	0.33*
All foods combined (N = 189)
Sweet	0.29**	−0.16*	0.14	0.39**	0.73**	0.16*	−0.18*
Sour	−0.17*	−0.17*	−0.06	−0.14	0.22	−0.08	0.06
Bitter	−0.14	−0.05	−0.05	−0.13	−0.03	0.11	−0.17*
Umami	−0.05	0.48**	0.11	−0.38**	−0.39**	−0.33**	0.48**
Salt	0.22**	0.44**	0.38**	−0.21**	−0.31**	−0.20**	0.62**
Fat sensation	0.44**	0.42**	0.61**	−0.11	0.01	−0.17*	0.55**

¹Correlation (2-tailed) significant at *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01. Different from ^aultra-processed and ^bprocessed foods based on non-overlapping 95% CIs.