1,2Kaisu Keskitalo, 1Hely Tuorila, 3Tim D. Spector, 3Lynn Cherkas, 4Karri Silventoinen, 2Leena Peltonen, 2Markus Perola
1Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 66, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland, 2Department of Molecular Medicine, National Public Health Institute (KTL), P.O. Box 104, 00251 Helsinki, Finland, 3Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St Thomas' Hospital, King's College London, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom, 4Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 41, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
A total of 1064 twin individuals (from UK, 17 to 82 years old) were phenotyped for sweet taste preference related traits. 722 subjects evaluated intensity and pleasantness of a 20% (w/v) sucrose solution and intensity of PROP (n-propylthiouracil) by filter paper method. Intensities were evaluated using Labeled Magnitude Scale (Green et al. 1993) and pleasantness using Labeled Affective Magnitude Scale (Schutz and Cardello 2001), respectively. All subjects filled in questionnaires about liking of (7-point scale) and frequency of use of (6-point scale) 6 sweet foods: sweets, drops, chocolate, ice-cream, sweet desserts and sweet pastry and also completed a Craving for Sweet Foods scale (a subscale of Health and Taste Attitude Scales, Roininen et al. 1999). Study sample consisted of 476 female twin pairs (212 MZ, 264 DZ pairs) and 56 male twin pairs (30 MZ, 26 DZ pairs), all DZ pairs being of the same sex. The relative proportion of additive genetic effects (A), common environmental effects (C) and unshared environmental effects (E) on variation of these continuous traits was calculated using Mx. Significant estimates of additive genetic effects were obtained for pleasantness of a 20% sucrose solution (H2 = 58% for males and 49% for females), for intensity rating of PROP (46% for males and 59% for females), for Craving for Sweet Foods (41% for males and 38% for females) and for liking and use of sweet foods, variables being a mean of ratings given to 6 foods (53-56%). These results imply that a preference for sweet foods has a major genetic determinant.
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