Thanks kallyn for a very informative post. I was aware of most of those factors, but you did bring up a few I had never heard of. I didn't want to write a mega post like yours, as I'm a bit lazy

I had always wondered if the ability to taste sweet was purely a "ripeness detector". However our dog seems to like sweet stuff, so I was a bit confused...

Sorry my post seems to get a bit lost. As an Aussie I miss out of the most active discussion time

...and after being here one day, I think I get frankly. He just loves to stir up us hardcore paleo's