Taste, olfactory and texture related genes and food choices: implications on health status

V. Precone, T. Beccari, L. Stuppia, M. Baglivo, S. Paolacci, E. Manara, G.A.D. Miggiano, B. Falsini, A. Trifirò, A. Zanlari, K.L. Herbst, V. Unfer, M. Bertelli; Geneob Project

MAGI Euregio, Nonprofit Genetic Testing Laboratory, Bolzano, Italy. elena.manara@assomagi.org

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• Nutrition

OBJECTIVE: The food choices are due to a mixture of sensory signals including gustatory, olfactory, and texture sensations. The aim of this quality review was to update data about studies concerning genetics of taste, olfactory and texture receptors and their influence on the health status in humans.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search was conducted in MEDLINE, Pubmed database and Scopus, for articles published in English until December 2018. Two independent researches selected the studies and extracted the data.

RESULTS: The review confirms the importance of inter-individual variations in taste, olfactory and texture related genes on food choices and their implications in the susceptibility to nutrition-related conditions such as obesity, dental caries, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge of variants in taste, olfactory and texture related genes can contribute to the prevention of diseases related to unhealthy nutrition. Further studies would be useful to identify other variants in the genes involved in these systems.

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