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NEW STUDY: There’s a scientific reason that so many people hate coriander

Apparently it really does taste like soap! - by Amy Sinclair
  • 05 Mar 2019

When it comes to coriander, people tend to have very firm opinions. 

While many love it, others absolutely hate it - with an estimated 14% of people vehemently disliking the taste of the herb.

NEW STUDY: There’s a scientific reason that so many people hate coriander

Even top US chef Ina Garten likened coriander to ‘passive-aggressive people’ in her list of most hated things in the world. 

Well now it seems there might actually be a scientific reason why so many people dislike the herb - and believe it tastes like soap. 

SciShow - a science show on YouTube - did a study of 30,000 people and asked what coriander tasted like to them. And the results showed a surprising common thread between those who hated it. ‘Subjects who said that cilantro made salsa taste like bubble bath had similarities in a cluster of smell receptor genes that–surprise–detect the smell of soap,’ says Sci Show host Hank Green.  

coriander

Around 14% of people dislike coriander ...

Image: Getty
soap

... and believe it tastes like soap!

Image: Getty

‘They tended to share one gene in particular which codes for the receptor that picks up the scent of aldehyde chemicals....There is more than one aldehyde responsible for giving cilantro its distinctive smell and they also happen to be a byproduct of soap making.’

And while not everyone who has the gene dislikes coriander, scientists say it’s a surprising result. We couldn’t agree more. Now, who wants some soap on their taco?!

Amy Sinclair
Amy Sinclair
Amy Sinclair is a contibutor for New Idea Food.

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