Dietary customs and food availability shape the preferences for basic tastes: A cross-cultural study among Polish, Tsimane' and Hadza societies

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Agnieszka Sorokowska - , Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Robert Pellegrino - , Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (Author)
  • Marina Butovskaya - , Russian State University for the Humanities (Author)
  • Michalina Marczak - , University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Agnieszka Niemczyk - , University of Wrocław (Author)
  • Tomas Huanca - , African Research Nexus (Author)
  • Piotr Sorokowski - , University of Wrocław (Author)

Abstract

Biological significance of food components suggests that preferences for basic tastes should be similar across cultures. On the other hand, cultural factors play an important role in diet and can consequently influence individual preference for food. To date, very few studies have compared basic tastes preferences among populations of very diverse environmental and cultural conditions, and research rather did not involve traditional populations for whom the biological significance of different food components might be the most pronounced. Hence, our study focused on basic taste preferences in three populations, covering a broad difference in diet due to environmental and cultural conditions, market availability, dietary habits and food acquirement: 1) a modern society (Poles, n = 200), 2) forager-horticulturalists from Amazon/Bolivia (Tsimane', n = 138), and 3) hunter-gatherers from Tanzania (Hadza, n = 85). The preferences for basic tastes were measured with sprays containing supra-threshold levels of sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami taste solutions. We observed several interesting differences between participating societies. We found that Tsimane' and Polish participants liked the sweet taste more than other tastes, while Hadza participants liked salty and sour tastes more than the remaining tastes. Further, Polish people found bitter taste particularly aversive, which was not observed in the traditional societies. Interestingly, no cross-cultural differences were observed for relative liking of umami taste - it was rated closely to neutral by members of all participating societies. Additionally, Hadza showed a pattern to like basic tastes that are more common to their current diet than societies with access to different food sources. These findings demonstrate the impact of diet and market availability on preference for basic tastes.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)291-296
Number of pages6
JournalAppetite
Volume116
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2017
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85028694646

Keywords

Keywords

  • Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Bolivia, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Diet, Female, Food Preferences, Food Supply, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Poland, Tanzania, Taste, Young Adult