Abstract MP42: Association of Taste Perception for Sweet, Salt, Sour, Bitter and Umami With Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among Community-dwelling Men and Women in the PREDIMED-PLUS Trial

Abstract

Introduction: Emerging evidence suggests that differences in the ability to perceive individual tastes; sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami, may influence food intake - amount and variety, thereby influencing diet quality, energy balance and cardiometabolic disorders. Objective: To explore the relationship between perception of each taste and intake of different categories of fruits and vegetables. We hypothesized that greater perception of each taste will be inversely associated with amount consumed. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed on baseline data from participants (N=379) in the University of Valencia center of the PREDIMED-PLUS Clinical Trial; a multi-center weight-loss primary prevention trial of cardiovascular disease, among community-dwelling adults in Spain aged 55-75y diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Taste perception was determined by challenging subjects with solutions of standard tastants representing sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami (400 mM sucrose, 200 mM NaCl, 34 mM citric acid, 5.6 mM phenylthiocarbamide [PTC], 200 mM monopotassium glutamate, respectively). Taste perception intensities were evaluated on a 0-5 scale. Food intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Outcomes included fruit and vegetable intake (servings/week), total and sub-groups (citrus and non-citrus fruits; cruciferous and non-cruciferous vegetables). Multivariable linear regression models were used to assess relationships between perception of each tastant and number of servings/week consumed, for total and square root-transformed sub-groups. Results: In the fully-adjusted models, controlling for sex, age, diabetes, smoking status, daily physical activity and weekly energy intake, there were inverse associations between sweet perception and intake of citrus fruit (β=-0.5; p<0.01) and total vegetables (β=-1.1; 95% CI [-2.0, -0.2]), particularly non-cruciferous vegetables (β=-1.0; p=0.02); and positive associations between salt perception and intake of total fruit (β=0.9; 95% CI [0.02, 1.7]), particularly non-citrus fruit (β=0.6; p=0.03), sour perception and intake of cruciferous vegetables (β=0.1; p=0.04) and umami perception and intake of non-cruciferous vegetables (β=0.7; p=0.04). No significant associations were observed between bitter taste perception and fruit or vegetable intake. Conclusion: This marks the first exploration of taste perception as a determinant of fruit and vegetable intake among community-dwelling adults. Perception for each tastant differentially affected the amount and type of fruits and vegetables consumed, with sweet, salt, sour and umami perception emerging as significant predictors. These findings support a role of taste perception in guiding the amount and type of foods consumed, albeit in a more complex manner than originally hypothesized.