Taste Perception, Salivary Proteins & the Oral Microbiome

Genetic differences in taste are believed to play an important role in food selection, especially for strong-tasting foods and beverages. The overall goal of this project is to better understand how genes that control food preferences differ among people and whether saliva composition and oral health are related to these differences.

This study examines the effects of a daily cranberry extract oral rinse on salivary protein responses and the oral microbiome (as a proxy measure of oral health). The study will be conducted in healthy adults who are presumably at high-risk (non-tasters of PROP; homozygous recessive for tas2R38 gene) or low-risk (super-taster of PROP; homozygous dominant for tas2R38 gene) of oral disease.

The specific aims are to determine if the use of cranberry polyphenol extract rinse will:

1. alter the oral microbial profile
2. induce changes in the salivary protein response
3. be associated with changes in taste and flavor perception

Participants will be screened for good overall and oral health (see inclusion/exclusion criteria below). Each subject's period of participation will be 2 weeks. Days 1-3 of the study is a run-in period. Subjects rinse with spring water 2-times/day (after brushing their teeth in the morning and evening). During days 4-14, subjects will rinse in a similar manner with a solution of cranberry-derived polyphenol extract (CPE) in spring water. Saliva will be collected from subjects in a brief session (10 min) on Days 3 and Day 14. Saliva samples will be analyzed for salivary proteins and microbial profile analysis. The purpose of this analysis is to measure the relative ratios of beneficial vs. disease-causing microbes in the mouth using 16S RNA sequencing. On each of the testing days, subjects will also evaluate food samples for standard taste and flavor attributes.