Abstract
Background: The rise in nutrition-related morbidity and mortality requires public health intervention programs targeting nutritional behavior. In addition to socio-economical, socio-cultural, psychological determinants, taste is one of the main factors that influence food choices. Differences in taste perception and sensitivity may be explained by genetic variations, therefore the knowledge of the extent to which genetic factors influence the development of individual taste preferences and eating patterns is important for public policy actions addressing nutritional behaviors. Our aim was to review genetic polymorphisms accounting for variability in taste and food preferences to contribute to an improved understanding of development of taste and food preferences. Methods: The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched using MeSH in PubMed and free text terms for articles published between January 1, 2000 and April 13, 2018. The search strategy was conducted following the PRISMA statement. The quality of the included studies was assessed by the validated Q-Genie tool. Results: Following the PRISMA flowchart, finally 103 articles were included in the review. Among the reviewed studies, 43 were rated to have good quality, 47 were rated to have moderate quality, and 13 were rated to have low quality. The majority of the studies assessed the association of genetic variants with the bitter taste modality, followed by articles analyzing the impact of polymorphisms on sweet and fat preferences. The number of studies investigating the association between umami, salty, and sour taste qualities and genetic polymorphisms was limited. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that a significant association exists between TAS2R38 variants (rs713598, rs1726866, rs10246939) and bitter and sweet taste preference. Other confirmed results are related to rs1761667 (CD36) and fat taste responsiveness. Otherwise further research is essential to confirm results of studies related to genetic variants and individual taste sensitivity. This knowledge may enhance our understanding of the development of individual taste and related food preferences and food choices that will aid the development of tailored public health strategy to reduce nutrition-related disease and morbidity.
Highlights
Globalization related changes resulted in the extremely high prevalence of unhealthy dietary behaviors all over the world especially in low and middle income countries which led to the rise in morbidity (Popkin, 2006; Lachat et al, 2013; Ford et al, 2017) and mortality (Global Burden of Disease Risk Factors Collaborators, 2018) caused by diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
Food preferences that are determined by taste perception are influenced by genetic factors with similar heritability estimates (dessert foods (0.20), vegetables (0.37–0.54), fruits (0.49–0.53), protein foods (0.48– 0.78) (Breen et al, 2006; Fildes et al, 2014; Smith et al, 2016) and the correlation for fat intake was found to be 0.61 for monozygotic twins in a study conducted among subjects of French descent (Pérusse et al, 1988)
The number of studies investigating the association between umami, salty, and sour taste perceptions and genetic polymorphisms was limited (n = 6, n = 6, and n = 4, respectively)
Summary
Globalization related changes resulted in the extremely high prevalence of unhealthy dietary behaviors all over the world especially in low and middle income countries which led to the rise in morbidity (Popkin, 2006; Lachat et al, 2013; Ford et al, 2017) and mortality (Global Burden of Disease Risk Factors Collaborators, 2018) caused by diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Taste is listed among the five main values (taste, health, cost, time, and social relationships) in the Food Choice Process Model, which explains the motivations behind food choice decisions (Connors et al, 2001) Sensory perceptions, such as taste sensitivity vary widely among individuals that may partly be explained by genetic polymorphisms located in genes involved in taste perception of the five basic taste qualities and the most recently identified fat taste (Malles, 2010; Running et al, 2015) modality. Differences in taste perception and sensitivity may be explained by genetic variations, the knowledge of the extent to which genetic factors influence the development of individual taste preferences and eating patterns is important for public policy actions addressing nutritional behaviors. Our aim was to review genetic polymorphisms accounting for variability in taste and food preferences to contribute to an improved understanding of development of taste and food preferences
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