Genetics, odor perception and food liking: The intriguing role of cinnamon. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Concas, Maria Pina; Morgan, Anna; Pelliccione, Giulia; Gasparini, Paolo; Girotto, Giorgia
• Is Part Of: Food quality and preference. Volume 93(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Cinnamon odorant -- Liking for wine -- Rs317787 -- OR51B5 gene -- OR52D1 gene; Food preferences -- Periodicals; Food -- Quality -- Periodicals; Food industry and trade -- Quality control -- Periodicals; Préférences alimentaires -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Qualité -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Industrie et commerce -- Qualité -- Contrôle -- Périodiques; Food industry and trade -- Quality control; Food preferences; Food -- Quality; Periodicals; 664
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104277
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-3293

Abstract

Highlights: Italian genetic isolates has been studied for odorant recognition and food liking. Replication of association between cinnamon odorant and rs317787 SNP in OR51B5 gene. rs317787 is associated with liking for wine, in which is present cinnamaldehyde. Abstract: Humans use a repertoire of > 400 olfactory receptors (ORs) to perceive odorants. The sense of smell is a complex trait whereby genetics and environmental factors interplay. To date, still little is known regarding the genetics of smell, even though the high genetic variability of ORs genes has already been demonstrated. Recently a significant association between cinnamon odorant recognition and the rs317787 polymorphism, located in a cluster of OR genes, has been described. Based on this data, here, we replicated the effect of the same variant (rs317787) on cinnamon odorant identification as well as looked at any possible association with liking for wine whose bouquet frequently smells of cinnamon. Our analysis in a cohort of individuals from two Italian genetic isolates confirmed that rs317787-T allele is associated with an improved cinnamon detection (p-value 5.18 × 10 −06, n = 971) but also with a greater liking for red wine (p-value 0.017, n = 2374). Present results further confirm the association of rs31778 SNP and cinnamon odorants detection and provide additional details about the role of the ORs genes in food liking. Overall, our work contributes to better deciphering the genetic basis of smell and food liking aimed at a more in-depth elucidation of the role of the ORs genes.