PTC taste threshold distribution and age in Mennonite populations

A number of studies report an impairment of the genetically inherited ability to taste PTC as a function of age, but ignore the cumulative effect of smoking on taste deterioration. This study examines the effect of aging on taste sensitivity in nonsmoking Mennonite populations. The results obtained preclude a cause and effect relationship between age and PTC taste sensitivity. These results are congruent with the claims which ascribe the observed deterioration in PTC taste sensitivity to the cumulative effects of smoking, rather than to the effects of ageing per se.