Perceived Bitterness of Antidesma bunius Berries Is Inversely Related to hTAS2R38 -PAV Diplotype

Sensitivity to bitterness from Antidesma bunius fruit was previously reported to be inversely correlated with the ability to taste bitterness from phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). To replicate and extend these findings, we conducted psychophysical testing in a large single-family pedigree (n = 86) for PTC, propylthiouracil (PROP), and Antidesma bunius berries and genotyped participants for hTAS2R38. We found that PTC sensitivity was inversely related to Antidesma fruit bitterness ratings (p = 8.54 × 10–3). Participants who are PAV/PAV for TAS2R38 tend to find Antidesma berries less bitter than AVI/AVI participants (beta = −6.32, p = 0.069, R2 = 0.057). Perception of Antidesma bitterness was moderately heritable (h2 = 0.56), although this did not reach significance (p = 0.08). We conclude that TAS2R38-PAV prevents the detection of Antidesma bitterness, and hypothesize that an unknown receptor cofactor may be required to partner with TAS2R38-AVI and -AAV to enable tasting bitterness from Antidesma bunius berries.