Can’t tell if that drink is sweet or bitter?

ISU researchers are taking a step forward in unlocking the secrets of human taste by examining the range of genes that code for sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami flavors.

Lester Wilson, professor of food science and human nutrition, is researching how the influence of food processing may affect how humans identify flavor compounds. Wilson’s process identifies the flavor chemistry that goes into a product as well as what consumers will enjoy if this is tampered with.

Flavor is thought to be a combination of taste, aroma, texture and spice irritation.

“Flavor is the interaction of aroma and taste influenced by color and texture,” Wilson said. 

The preferences associated with each factor vary from person to person. Variations in genes as well as personal experiences play a large role in taste inclinations, Wilson said.

For example, individuals may avoid beer at all costs due to their intrinsic extreme sensitivity to bitter tastes. Others may use this to reason their dislike for broccoli and multiple other bitter vegetables.

Personal experiences and the environment children grow up in may also play a role in which tastes are preferred over others, Wilson said.

It has long been known that the food mothers consume during pregnancy also help to develop a child’s taste receptors. Research shows children will favor flavors they were first exposed to in this way.

“Individual experience plays a larger role for all though flavor preference may vary based on genetics,” he said. “Caregivers often lead the way for a child’s palate.”

Cultural influences, such as those heavy in spicy foods, will also coordinate preferences later on in life, Wilson said.

Both sweet and bitter taste receptors have been repeatedly studied in an effort to find chemical alterations that may benefit the human population, Wilson said.

Interventions with sweet and bitter sensitivity would allow treatment for individuals coping with both diabetes and obesity.

Current taste research focuses on chemicals that, for example, may boost salty flavor but actually be low in sodium.

“Sodium serves other purposes, such as acting as a preservative, so altering taste isn’t the only thing that needs to be taken into account,” Wilson said.

Food companies must also fight the perceptions of the consumers for, more often then not, items marked “reduced in sodium” or “reduced in fat” that are not believed to taste good, Wilson said.

“Essentially a mind game must be played to distracting the consumers brain from being salty with other possible spices.”