Last updated at 10:59 15 November 2004

How much alcohol people drink may depend on their sense of taste, scientists say.

A study found that alcohol consumption in men and women varied according to what kind of taste buds they had.

People with a poor ability to detect bitterness on their tongues drank more per week than those who recoiled from bitter tastes.

Bigger drinkers were also found to have weak versions of a newly discovered bitter taste gene called TAS2R38.

Influence on drinking behaviour

Researchers in the US asked 31 men and 53 women to rate the taste of different concentrations of a bitter chemical called 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). All were light and moderate drinkers.

DNA blood tests were also carried out to determine what kind of TAS2R38 genes they had.

The volunteers were interviewed about how often during the year they drank beer, wine or spirits.

Dr Valerie Duffy, from the University of Connecticut, said: "People who tasted the least bitterness from PROP or who were TAS2R38 non-tasters consumed more alcohol than those who tasted the most bitterness from PROP or who were TAS2R38 tasters.

"For example, using PROP as a marker of taste genetics, those who tasted the least bitterness from PROP averaged consuming alcoholic beverages five to six times per week, whereas those who tasted the most bitterness from PROP averaged consuming alcoholic beverages two to three times per week.

"This work suggests that genetics can influence our alcohol drinking behaviour, probably based on how pleasant or unpleasant we perceive the oral sensations from alcoholic beverages."

The findings were reported in the journal Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research.

Since the study involved light to moderate drinkers, it was not clear whether the results had a bearing on alcohol dependency or abuse.

Important lessons

But Dr Duffy said there were important lessons to be learned from the research.

"We do not all share the same oral sensory experiences from foods and beverages," she said. "Some of the differences in oral sensation are under genetic control, and these differences can explain some of the variability in what we like and ultimately choose to eat and drink."

She pointed out that genetic variation in taste was normal. People who were less sensitive to bitterness were not taste-dysfunctional.

The good news for PROP "non-tasters" was that - apart from possibly drinking too much - they were likely to enjoy a healthier diet.

Other work from Dr Duffy's team had shown that they consumed more vegetables than people who were sensitive to bitter tastes.