Super-tasting gastronomes? Taste phenotype characterization of foodies and wine experts

Abstract

Responsiveness to the bitterant 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) contributes to differences between individuals in orosensory sensation and hedonic responses to food and beverages, and is used as a general proxy for ‘taste’ response. Greater PROP responsiveness has also been linked to more acute discrimination between oral stimuli. These observations have led to speculation that foodies and food professionals are over-represented as PROP super-tasters, consistent with the recent hypothesis that individuals may self-select for some interests or professions based on an innate taste advantage – an example of an active gene-environment correlation (rGE) for taste. Some evidence for such a relationship has recently been found for wine expertise. The main objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that individuals with high liking of and involvement with food and wine –foodies and wine experts, respectively - differ from other individuals in their PROP responsiveness. 1, 011 individuals were recruited from the Northeast, United States for a mail survey, and phenotyped for PROP bitterness via filter paper disk. They also rated their liking for a range of 64 food and 14 non-food items using individual generalized degree of liking scales, and self-rated their level of wine expertise, which was used to classify them as wine experts (n=130) or wine novices (n=289). ΔL values – the difference in average liking scores between food and non-food items – were calculated for each individual, and participants were then classified as foodies (n=240) or non-foodies (n=240) based on whether their ΔL scores were within the upper or lower quartiles, respectively. Overall, PROP responsiveness (n=954) declined with age, and females rated PROP bitterness 43% higher than males. The higher ratings by females were observed across all age groups. PROP responsiveness was not correlated with ΔL (r=−0.01; p=0.77), and no differences were observed in PROP bitterness ([F(1)=0.17; p=0.68]) or distribution between foodies and non-foodies. In contrast, wine experts rated PROP as significantly more bitter than wine novices ([F(1)=4.8; p=0.03]), and conditional distribution functions showed they were more likely to be super-tasters or medium-tasters, although the finding was not observed in respondents aged over 60yrs. These results add modest support to an rGE for taste with wine experts, but not with foodies.