Influence of genetic bitter taste perception on taste assessment in peptide-based oral nutritional supplements (ONS-PBD)

Introduction: in inflammatory bowel disease, peptide-based oral nutritional supplements can be used to improve absorption and digestion and adherence to treatment. Certain amino acids are bitter, which may cause them to have a worse taste perception than others. We posited whether the genetic ability to detect bitter taste will influence personal taste and brand preferences between subjects and controls. Material and methods: 27 patients with IBD and 31 healthy (control) subjects blindly rated 9 ONS-PBD on a 7-point Likert scale with regard to smell, taste, density, overall rating, bitter, sour, sweet and salty. A genetic predisposition to perceive the bitter taste was assessed by saliva sample with the TellmeGen® DNA test and confirmed using a N-propylthiouracil test strip. Results: no differences were found between patients and controls in the perception of bitter taste or in the assessment of the ONS-PBDs. Overall, coffee flavours were preferred to vanilla flavours. The taste ratings of the products tested were low, except for 3 of the 9 products that were liked by more than 50 % of the subjects tested; the 2 preferred ones being Vital Peptido 1.5 Coffee and Vanilla. In all 51.3 % showed medium/intense to detect bitter taste. A genetic predisposition to perceive bitter taste did not alter the overall scores for bitter products. Conclusions: no differences were found in the assessments between patients and controls. The assessment of the different ONS-PBDs was not altered by the subjects' perception of bitter taste. Product acceptability may be a factor in achieving greater adherence to treatment with this type of supplement.