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Vegetable Intake in College-Aged Adults Is Explained by Oral Sensory Phenotypes and TAS2R38 Genotype

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Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

Taste and oral sensations vary in humans. Some of this variation has a genetic basis, and two commonly measured phenotypes are the bitterness of propylthiouracil (PROP) and the number of fungiform papillae on the anterior tongue. While the genetic control of fungiform papilla is unclear, PROP bitterness associates with allelic variation in the taste receptor gene, TAS2R38. The two common alleles are AVI and PAV (proline, alanine, valine, and isoleucine); AVI/AVI homozygotes taste PROP as less bitter than heterozygous or homozygous PAV carriers. In this laboratory-based study, we determined whether taste of a bitter probe (quinine) and vegetable intake varied by taste phenotypes and TAS2R38 genotype in healthy adults (mean age = 26 years). Vegetable intake was assessed via two validated, complementary methods: food records (Food Pyramid servings standardized to energy intake) and food frequency questionnaire (general intake question and composite vegetable groups). Quinine bitterness varied with phenotypes but not TAS2R38; quinine was more bitter to those who tasted PROP as more bitter or had more papillae. Nontasters by phenotype or genotype reported greater consumption of vegetables, regardless of type (i.e., the effect generalized to all vegetables and was not restricted to those typically thought of as being bitter). Furthermore, nontasters with more papillae reported greater vegetable consumption than nontasters with fewer papillae, suggesting that when bitterness does not predominate, more papillae enhance vegetable liking. These findings suggest that genetic variation in taste, measured by multiple phenotypes or TAS2R38 genotype, can explain differences in overall consumption of vegetables, and this was not restricted to vegetables that are predominantly bitter.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Julie M. Peterson, MS, RD and Megan N. Phillips, MS, RD for collecting the data; and Denise Anamani MA, CLSpMB for obtaining the blood samples. This work was supported by USDA Hatch Project CONS00827 and NIH grant numbers DC00283 and AA09379.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Allied Health Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, 358 Mansfield Road, Unit 2101, Storrs, CT, 06269-2101, USA

    Valerie B. Duffy

  2. Department of Food Science, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    John E. Hayes

  3. Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Andrew C. Davidson, Judith R. Kidd & Kenneth K. Kidd

  4. Department of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Linda M. Bartoshuk

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  1. Valerie B. Duffy
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  2. John E. Hayes
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Correspondence to Valerie B. Duffy.

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Duffy, V.B., Hayes, J.E., Davidson, A.C. et al. Vegetable Intake in College-Aged Adults Is Explained by Oral Sensory Phenotypes and TAS2R38 Genotype. Chem. Percept. 3, 137–148 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-010-9079-8

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