ArticleAmerican journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council2026
Bitter Taste Perception in BaYaka Hunter-Gatherers.
Article in American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
objectivesThis study examined variation in bitter taste perception among BaYaka hunter-gatherers from the Republic of Congo, comparing individuals from the same population that were born and grew up in a forest ecology to those from a logging town.
methodsBitter-tasting phenotype was assessed in 112 BaYaka individuals using a paper-strip taste-detection task with single-concentration strips of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and thiourea (thiocarbamide). Participants were grouped by the place where they were born and grew up: forest camps or the town. Logistic regression was used to test associations between location, sex, age, and bitter taste perception.
resultsTown-born individuals were more likely to perceive both compounds as bitter than forest-born individuals (PTC: OR = 3.93, 95% CI: 1.75-9.17, p < 0.01; thiourea: OR = 4.44, 95% CI: 1.97-10.42, p < 0.01). No significant associations were found between bitter taste perception and sex or age.
conclusionBitter-tasting phenotype differed among BaYaka individuals, with higher proportions of bitter tasters among those born and raised in town compared to those from forest camps. These results suggest that early-life ecological context may contribute towards variation in bitter taste perception, which we hypothesize might be due to differences in exposure to bitter wild plant compounds.
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