The effect of sweet and sour taste preferences on the fruit consumption of university students

This research was planned and conducted to determine the effect of sweet and sour taste preferences on the fruit consumption of university students. The universe of the research was made up of a total of 310 young adults attending Selcuk University, 125 female and 185 male students aged between 17 and 35. The data of the study was obtained in three stages: in the first stage, nutritional state and some dietary habits of the individuals were determined. In the second stage, the method of 24-h recalls for food consumption were used to evaluate nutritional status of the individuals. In the third stage, taste preferences of individuals were measured by sensory analysis. The result of the study indicated that there was a significant difference of p<0.01 in BMI mean scores between the groups regarding gender. There weren?t any obese (?30.0) students. There was a significant difference between male and female students participated in the study with respect to smoking amount per day (p<0.01). While the rate of males who smoke one packet of cigarette or more per day was 51.7%, it was 17.2 % among females. It was found that participants continuously skipped meals and it was the breakfast that was skipped most by the participants (60.6 %). When the average dietary energy and nutrient intake per day of young adults was examined, the energy intake among males was 2075.9 ± 965.85 kcal/day and 1681.6 ± 865.36 kcal/day among females. It was seen that males had more energy intake per day than females (p<0.01). Besides protein, there was a statistical difference regarding gender between the consumptions of vitamin B12, biotin, carbonhydrate, vitamin B2 and zink, pantothenic acid, folate (p<0.01), vitamin B1, iron and phosphor (p<0.05). It was found that vitamin K and phosphor intake of students exceeded 2/3 RDA levels. It was seen that, In general, there was a niacin, folate and magnesium deficiency; female students had an insufficient nourishment of calcium and iron and almost half of both groups had an insufficient intake of energy. Regardless of the place they reside, only 46.5 % of the students consumed 3-4 servings of fruit per day. No significant difference was observed between BMI index and fruit intake preferences (p>0.05). 68.8 % of those classified by their BMI as overweight preferred sweet fruit. No significant difference was found between male and female students in terms of average fruit intake per day. Males consumed 128.67 g on average while females consumed 125.58 g. There was no difference with regard to gender factor on the levels of liking for the taste samples (p<0.05). Tastes rich in sweet were liked more than those rich in sour by male and female students. There wasn?t a relationship between taste preference scores and amount of fruit intake. Results of linear regression analyses conducted based on gender indicated that taste preference scores of both male and female student which were taken as independent variable weren?t a significant predictor of fruit intake amounts. Further research is needed to study taste/food preferences of the individuals living in Turkey. The research to be conducted on this area is likely to contribute to the sensory analysis on food sector to develop strategies to help children reduce sweet-food consumption and increase the consumption of sour-taste foods.