Self-Rated Aversion to Taste Qualities and the PROP Taster Phenotype Associate with Alcoholic Beverage Intake and Preference
Open Access
- 9 June 2021
- Vol. 7 (2), 37
- https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages7020037
Abstract
Consumers often identify “taste” as an important factor when selecting alcoholic beverages. Although it is assumed that reduced alcohol consumption in PROP super-tasters is due to a greater dislike of the nominally aversive sensations that they experience more intensely (e.g., bitterness) when compared to PROP non-tasters, this question has not been specifically asked to them. Therefore, we examined consumers’ self-reported aversion towards specific sensory attributes (bitter, hot/burn, dry, sour, sweet, carbonation) for four alcoholic beverage types (white wine, red wine, beer, spirits) using a convenience sample of U.S. wine consumers (n = 925). Participants rated 18 statements describing different combinations of sensory attributes and alcoholic beverages on a 5-point Likert scale (e.g., Beer tastes too bitter for me). Individuals who tended to agree more strongly with the statements (i.e., they were more averse; p(F) < 0.05) tended to (i) consume less of all beverage types, (ii) consume a higher proportion of white wine (p(r) < 0.05), and (iii) were more likely to be female or PROP super-tasters. The results suggest that self-reported aversion to specific sensory attributes is associated with not only lower overall intake of alcoholic beverages, but also a shift in the relative proportions of beverage type consumed; a key finding for studies investigating how taste perception impacts alcohol consumption.Keywords
Funding Information
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (11733181)
This publication has 64 references indexed in Scilit:
- Gender and Craft Beer: Participation and Preferences in PennsylvaniaInternational Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 2020
- Alcohol and Taste IntensityChemosensory Perception, 2019
- The role of taste in alcohol preference, consumption and risk behaviorCritical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2017
- Orosensory responsiveness and alcohol behaviourPhysiology & Behavior, 2017
- Importance of taste, nutrition, cost and convenience in relation to diet quality: Evidence of nutrition resilience among US adults using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2010Preventive Medicine, 2016
- The importance of taste on dietary choice, behaviour and intake in a group of young adultsAppetite, 2016
- Two decades of supertasting: Where do we stand?Physiology & Behavior, 2011
- Genetic Variation in Taste and Its Influence on Food SelectionOMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, 2009
- Nutritional Implications of Genetic Taste Variation: The Role of PROP Sensitivity and Other Taste PhenotypesAnnual Review of Nutrition, 2008
- Why Americans Eat What They Do: Taste, Nutrition, Cost, Convenience, and Weight Control Concerns as Influences on Food ConsumptionJournal of the American Dietetic Association, 1998