People may inherit a sense of taste that affects their desire to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, according to a new study in the US.

Researchers explored how well people could detect a substance known as PROP in solutions of various strengths. Some people couldn't taste it, some tasted it at moderate concentrations, and others had a bitter taste from highly diluted solutions.

People who were most often able to taste PROP tended to dislike eating vegetables. A dislike for cruciferous vegetables was especially related to an ability to detect PROP.

The study suggested that PROP tasters comprise about 75 per cent of the population, so taste preferences may be a significant barrier to meeting nutrition recommendations for many people. In a separate study, researchers found that individuals who preferred fruit liked sweeter foods and ate dessert more often than those who preferred vegetables.

Vegetable lovers, on the other hand, tended to eat spicy foods more often and enjoyed bitter or savoury flavors.