Genetics could be responsible for that insatiable beer craving.
Researchers discovered genetics affected what scents individuals were able to detect and which they found appetizing, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The study also hoped to aid food companies in better-targeting their products to people who would be most likely to enjoy them.
Participants in the study were given three wine glasses to smell, two of them contained only water and one held a diluted scent.
Subjects were asked to sniff each glass and determine which one contained the smell. The research team varied the concentration of scents and included how smelly it was in their notes.
Blood samples were drawn from each participant so researchers could analyze their DNA in hopes of finding a correlation between genetics and scent-detecting abilities.
The team found each of four tested scents had a correlated gene that resulted in the ability to easily sniff them out.
The scents were: apples, violets, blue cheese and malt (an ingredient in beer).
We were surprised how many odors had genes associated with them,' said Jeremy McRae from Plant and Food Research in New Zealand," Jeremy McRae from Plant and Food Research in New Zealand, said, the Daily Mail reported. "If this extends to other odors, then we might expect everyone to have their own unique set of smells that they are sensitive to.
A follow-up study was able to detect the exact gene responsible for the easy detection of violets, chromosome 11, the Los Angeles Times reported.
An attempt to predict what groups of people were more likely to like prefer certain scents proved unsucessful.
"I appreciate that we're all different, and there are many different combinations of abilities to smell different compounds," Richard Newcomb, a genetiscist at the New Zealand Institute For Pland and Food Research, said. "So don't give your mate a hard time when you're having a glass of wine and he doesn't quite get the violet note that's written on the back of the bottle."
