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ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: September 22, 2021

Children鈥檚 dislike of cauliflower, broccoli could be written in their microbiome


Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Many children, as well as adults, dislike聽叠谤补蝉蝉颈肠补听vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. In the mouth, enzymes from these vegetables and from bacteria in saliva can produce unpleasant, sulfurous odors. Now, researchers reporting in ACS鈥櫬�Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry聽have found that levels of these volatile compounds are similar in parent-child pairs, suggesting shared oral microbiomes. They also found that high levels cause children to dislike the vegetables.

叠谤补蝉蝉颈肠补听vegetables contain a compound called S-methyl-薀-cysteine sulfoxide that produces potent, sulfurous odors when acted upon by an enzyme in the plant鈥檚 tissues, as well as by the same enzyme produced by bacteria in some people鈥檚 oral microbiomes. Previous studies have shown that adults have different levels of this enzyme in their saliva, but whether children also have different levels, and whether this influences their food preferences, is unknown. Damian Frank and colleagues, who conducted this research at CSIRO, Australia鈥檚 national science agency, wanted to investigate differences in sulfur volatile production in saliva from children and adults and analyze how they affect聽叠谤补蝉蝉颈肠补听acceptance.

The researchers used gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry to identify the main odor-active compounds in raw and steamed cauliflower and broccoli. Then, they asked 98 child/parent pairs, with children between 6 and 8 years of age, to rate the key odor compounds. Dimethyl trisulfide, which smells rotten, sulfurous and putrid, was the least liked odor by children and adults. The team then mixed saliva samples with raw cauliflower powder and analyzed the volatile compounds produced over time. Large differences in sulfur volatile production were found between individuals, and children usually had similar levels as their parents, which is likely explained by similar microbiomes. Children whose saliva produced high amounts of sulfur volatiles disliked raw聽叠谤补蝉蝉颈肠补听vegetables the most, but this relationship was not seen in adults, who might learn to tolerate the flavor over time. These results provide a new potential explanation for why some people like Brassica vegetables and others (especially children) don鈥檛, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from聽.

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Child covering mouth with a plate of broccoli and cauliflower in front of her.
Children might dislike Brassica vegetables, such as cauliflower and broccoli, because of volatile sulfur compounds produced in their saliva.
Credit: triocean/Shutterstock.com