The Heritability of Sweet and Spicy

Kenzie Nix
DNA & Evolution
12:30 section
20 March 2014

Abstract
I tested the heritability of sweet and spicy taste preference by asking sixty-two different
families how sweet and spicy they liked their food on a scale from 1 to 7. I hypothesized that
sweetness would be more heritable than preferences for spiciness, as there are sweet receptors
but no receptor for spicy taste. I found that my hypothesis was correct with a higher heritability
of preference for sweetness. However, both sweet and salty preference had a heritable
component. Similarity in parents and offspring for spicy preference could also be due to
environment, or possibly part of the umami taste receptors.

Introduction Humans have five types of taste receptors that include sweet, salty, bitter, sweet,
and umami. We vary in how sweet and spicy we enjoy our food. It is believed that differences in
preference for sweetness can be attributed to variation in the sweet receptor (Newcomb 2012).
As there is no spicy receptor, differences in preference for spicy food may or may not be
attributed to genetic differences. I want to know if preference for sweet and spicy food is
heritable. I hypothesize that enjoying sweet food is more heritable than spicy food because there
are no specific receptors for spicy taste.
Methods I surveyed sixty-two different families on their preference for sweet and spicy food on
a scale from 1 to 7. Then I estimated the heritability of sweet and spicy preference by graphing
parents and their offspring on a scatterplot and finding the slope of the best-fit line. The slope is
the similarity between parents and their offspring.
If my hypothesis was correct then I would find a large correlation between parents and
offspring for sweet preference, and a lesser correlation between parents and offspring for spicy
preference (Figure 1). If my hypothesis was incorrect I would find a large correlation between
parents and their offspring for both sweet and spicy food (Figure 2).
Results As shown in Figure 3, the preference for spicy food had a heritability of 0.32. The
preference for sweet food had a heritability of 0.48 as shown in Figure 4. The heritability of
spicy preference had a 0.16 greater correlation, showing a significantly larger genetic component
for the heritability of sweet preference as I had predicted. Preference for spicy food was 0.32,
which is not an insignificant genetic contribution. I was correct that sweet preference was more
heritable, but spicy food also appears to be heritable to a lesser degree.
Discussion My results are consistent with preference for sweet taste having a larger heritability
than spicy preference, most likely due to sweet taste receptors. As spicy preference still showed a

significant correlation between parents and offspring, I hypothesize that the umami taste
receptors may control part of what we classify as spiciness. Umami as the savory receptor may
account for more than just we taste as spicy, explaining the lesser correlation.
It is difficult to conclude from these results whether the differences between parents and
their offspring on spicy and sweetness preference are due to genetics or if they are products of
the environment. As parents raise offspring and supply them with their food from birth, it is
possible that offspring simply learn to like the foods that they grow up eating. However, if
offspring just enjoyed what foods their parents did then there would be a 1.0 correlation between
preference for spicy and sweet food. Although we cannot decipher how much of the correlation
is due to genetic factors, and how much is due to environmental influence, we can safely
conclude that at least part of the preference is due to genetic differences between individuals.
The study I designed was not perfect. I asked respondents to rate their preference for
sweet and spicy on a scale from 1-7, as well as responding for their parents preference.
Although I encouraged respondents to ask their parents for their answers, some respondents may
have guessed what they thought their parents would have responded. This could account for
significant error if respondents assumed incorrectly what their parents preferred. In addition,
there may have been error due to self-reporting preference. Respondents could have had different
ideas of what sweet and spicy preference meant on a 1-7 scale. Strengths of the study included
simplicity, unbiased wording of questions, and a large sample size.
To see if the correlation found between parents and offspring is due to genes or a product
of the environment, I could look at adopted children and compare their preference for sweet food
to their biological and adopted parents preferences. I hypothesize that taste preference is due to
genetic heritability, and not a product of environment. To test this I would ask parents and

offspring of adoptions for their preference for sweet food on a scale from 1 to 7. Then I would
graph the correlation between biological parents and offspring, and adopted parents and
offspring on two separate scatterplots and find the best-fit lines. If my hypothesis is correct, then
biological parents and offspring will show a larger correlation than adoptive parents and
offspring (Figure 5). If my hypothesis is incorrect, biological parents and offspring will show a
lesser correlation than adoptive parents and offspring (Figure 6). If my hypothesis is correct and
taste preference is due to genetic heritability then I can assume that 32% of preference for spicy
food, and 48% of preference for sweet food is due to genes (Figure 3/4).

Heritability of Preference for Spicy Food

8
7

Offspring

6
5
4
y = -0.0984x + 5.1557

3
2
1
0
0

Parents

Heritability of Preference for Sweet Food

8
7

Offspring

6
5
4

y = 0.9091x + 0.6182

3
2
1
0
0

Parents

Figure 1 Predicted results if the hypothesis is correct There will be a large correlation
between parents and offspring for sweet, but not spicy food

Heritability of Preference for Spicy Food

8
7

Offspring

6
5
4

y = 0.9091x + 0.6182

3
2
1
0
0

Parents

Heritability of Preference for Sweet Food

8
7

Offspring

6
5
4

y = 0.9091x + 0.6182

3
2
1
0
0

Parents

Figure 2 Predicted results if the hypothesis is incorrect There will be a large correlation
between parents and offspring for both sweet and spicy food

Heritability of Preference for Spicy Food

7
y = 0.3165x + 2.1534

Offspring

5
4
3
2
1
0
0

Parents

Figure 3 Actual results Preference for spicy food had a heritability of 0.32

Heritability of Preference for Sweet Food

8
7

Offspring

6
5
4
3
2
y = 0.4827x + 2.6609

1
0
0

Parents

Figure 4 Actual results Preference for sweet food had a heritability of 0.48

Heritability of Taste Preference

7

y = 1.0065x - 0.2265

Offspring

5
4
3
2
1
0
0

Biological Parents

Environmental Contribution to Taste

Preference
8
7
Offspring

6
5
4

y = 0.5625x + 4.9375

3
2
1
0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

Adoptive Parents

Figure 5 Predicted results if hypothesis is correct Biological parents and offspring will have a
large correlation, and adoptive parents and offspring will have a lesser correlation

Heritability of Taste Preference

8
7

Offspring

6
5
y = 0.5625x + 4.9375

4
3
2
1
0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

Biological Parents

Environmental Contribution to Taste

Preference
8
7

y = 1.0065x - 0.2265

Offspring

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0

Adoptive Parents

Figure 6 Predicted results if hypothesis is incorrect Biological parents and offspring will have
a small correlation, and adoptive parents and offspring will have a larger correlation

Literature Cited
Newcomb, Richard D., Mary B. Xia, Danielle R. Reed. 2012. Heritable differences in
chemosensory ability among humans. Flavour. 1:9.

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