Multidimensional evaluation of endogenous and health factors affecting food preferences, taste and smell perception

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition, health & aging Vol. 20; no. 10; pp. 971 - 981
• Main Authors: Guido, D., Perna, Simone, Carrai, M., Barale, R., Grassi, M., Rondanelli, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Springer Paris 01.12.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Aging; Body Mass Index; Caffeine; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drugs; Endocrinology; Female; Food; Food Preferences; Forensic medicine; Fruit; Gender; Genotyping Techniques; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Health care; Humans; Italy; Laboratories; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Neurosciences; Nutrition; Nutrition research; Olfactory Perception; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Preferences; Primary Care Medicine; Public health; Quality of Life Research; Smell; Smoking; Taste; Taste Perception; Vegetables; Italy; genes; body mass index; sex; smoke; Taste; prognostic factors; aging; smell; food preferences
• ISSN: 1279-7707; 1760-4788
• DOI: 10.1007/s12603-016-0703-4

Objective This study, by taking a holistic approach, investigates the relationships between taste, smell sensitivity and food preference with prognostic (endogenous and health) factors including age, gender, genetic taste markers, body mass, cigarette smoking, and number of drugs used. Design Cross sectional study. Setting Northern Italy. Participants 203 healthy subjects (160 women/43 men; mean age: 58.2±19.8 years) were examined. Measurements Individual taste sensitivity was determined by saccharose, sodium chloride, acetic acid and caffeine solutions and by 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness test. Olfactory sensitivity has been assessed by «Sniffin’ Sticks». Four tag Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in regions of interest were genotyped. Factor analysis and multivariate regression were performed for scaling food preferences and screening prognostic factors, respectively. Results Increasing age is associated with decreased responsiveness to NaCl (P=0.001), sweet solutions (P=0.044), and smell perception (P<0.001). Concerning the food preferences, elderly like the “vegetables” and “fruits” but dislike “spicy” more than younger. Regarding number of drugs taken, there is a significant negative effect on smell perception (P<0.001). In addition, drugs reduce both the “vegetables foods” score (P=0.002) and the “milk-product foods” score (P=0.027). With respect to Body Mass Index (BMI), only a significant effect was shown, on sweet perception (P=0.006). Variation in taste receptor genes can give rise to differential perception of sweet, acid and bitter tastes. No effect of gender and smoking was observed. Conclusions Our study suggested that age, genetic markers, BMI and drugs use are the factors which affect taste and smell perception and food preferences.