Robin M. Tucker , Sze-Yen Tan , Aubrey DuBois , Emily J. Mayhew
{"title":"Clustering method and stimulus presentation order shift sweet liking phenotype distributions","authors":"Robin M. Tucker , Sze-Yen Tan , Aubrey DuBois , Emily J. Mayhew","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105509","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sweet liking is a phenotype with an intuitive connection to nutrition and health, but phenotyping methods and association with health outcomes reported in the literature are highly variable. Recently, a “Rapid Method” of phenotyping based on 1 M sucrose solution liking was proposed, but validation of this method in new subject groups is needed. This study compared sweet liking phenotyping methods against 3 reliability criteria. Participants (<em>n</em> = 92, aged 18–55 years) rated their liking of both a 5-concentration series of sucrose solutions and a stand-alone 1 M sucrose solution. Participants were classified as sweet likers, sweet dislikers, or inverted U-shape using 7 hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) linkage methods, the Rapid Method, and a method based on the slope of the liking-sucrose concentration function (“Slope Method”). The proportion of sweet likers, defined as members of the cluster with the highest mean 1 M sucrose liking, varied widely from 1 % to 48 % depending on HCA method; in comparison, the Rapid and Slope methods classified 39 % and 51 % of participants as sweet likers, respectively. Liking for sucrose solutions decreased systematically across presentations (<em>p</em> = 0.00046); 63 % of participants who rated the 1 M solution first met the Rapid Method cut-off for sweet likers compared to 39 % of participants who rated it last. The Slope Method achieved the highest intragroup correlations while reproducing the commonly recognized phenotypes, but performance of the Rapid Method is strong enough to warrant its continued use when convenience is of paramount importance. Replication in larger cohorts is needed to validate these results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"129 ","pages":"Article 105509"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Food Quality and Preference","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950329325000849","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Sweet liking is a phenotype with an intuitive connection to nutrition and health, but phenotyping methods and association with health outcomes reported in the literature are highly variable. Recently, a “Rapid Method” of phenotyping based on 1 M sucrose solution liking was proposed, but validation of this method in new subject groups is needed. This study compared sweet liking phenotyping methods against 3 reliability criteria. Participants (n = 92, aged 18–55 years) rated their liking of both a 5-concentration series of sucrose solutions and a stand-alone 1 M sucrose solution. Participants were classified as sweet likers, sweet dislikers, or inverted U-shape using 7 hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) linkage methods, the Rapid Method, and a method based on the slope of the liking-sucrose concentration function (“Slope Method”). The proportion of sweet likers, defined as members of the cluster with the highest mean 1 M sucrose liking, varied widely from 1 % to 48 % depending on HCA method; in comparison, the Rapid and Slope methods classified 39 % and 51 % of participants as sweet likers, respectively. Liking for sucrose solutions decreased systematically across presentations (p = 0.00046); 63 % of participants who rated the 1 M solution first met the Rapid Method cut-off for sweet likers compared to 39 % of participants who rated it last. The Slope Method achieved the highest intragroup correlations while reproducing the commonly recognized phenotypes, but performance of the Rapid Method is strong enough to warrant its continued use when convenience is of paramount importance. Replication in larger cohorts is needed to validate these results.
期刊介绍:
Food Quality and Preference is a journal devoted to sensory, consumer and behavioural research in food and non-food products. It publishes original research, critical reviews, and short communications in sensory and consumer science, and sensometrics. In addition, the journal publishes special invited issues on important timely topics and from relevant conferences. These are aimed at bridging the gap between research and application, bringing together authors and readers in consumer and market research, sensory science, sensometrics and sensory evaluation, nutrition and food choice, as well as food research, product development and sensory quality assurance. Submissions to Food Quality and Preference are limited to papers that include some form of human measurement; papers that are limited to physical/chemical measures or the routine application of sensory, consumer or econometric analysis will not be considered unless they specifically make a novel scientific contribution in line with the journal''s coverage as outlined below.