‘Scrumping’ apes may have sparked our taste for alcohol — But how? Study finds

The researchers suggest that the ability to metabolise ethanol may have allowed African apes to safely consume ripe, fermented fruit found on the ground. This adaptation likely helped them avoid competing with monkeys for unripe fruit in trees and reduced the danger of climbing and potential falls. (Image: Catherine Hobaiter/University of St Andrews)

If you’ve ever enjoyed a glass of cider on a warm day, your taste for fermented fruit might go back much further than you think. A new study suggests our ancient relatives may have shared that liking and scientists now have a name for it.

Researchers from Dartmouth and the University of St Andrews have introduced the term "scrumping" to describe the act of apes foraging for fermented fruit fallen to the forest floor. The study, published in BioScience, explores how this behaviour may be linked to human evolution and our surprising efficiency at digesting alcohol.

Why apes eat fermented fruit
The team analysed dietary data from chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans in the wild. They compared feeding activity with the height of fruit in the forest. If an ape on the ground ate fruit that typically grows high in the trees, it was classed as scrumping.

Their analysis showed that African apes like chimpanzees and gorillas regularly eat fermented fruit from the ground. Orangutans, in contrast, showed little to no such behaviour. This difference supports earlier genetic findings from 2015, which revealed African apes have a genetic variation that boosts alcohol metabolism by up to 40 times.

Lead researcher Nathaniel Dominy, an anthropology professor at Dartmouth, said the absence of a proper term for this feeding habit meant it had gone unnoticed for years. “We never really separated eating fruit from trees and fruit off the ground,” he said. “Giving it a name helps scientists take a closer look.”

Alcohol, apes and evolution
The study also touches on how this behaviour may have influenced human development. Eating fermented fruit could have allowed apes to avoid climbing trees, reducing the risk of falls. This supports past findings showing that falls from trees posed serious threats to large primates.

Chimpanzees eat nearly 10 pounds of fruit daily. According to the team, this could expose them to steady levels of ethanol over time. The researchers believe regular, low-level alcohol exposure may have shaped not just the digestive systems of early humans but also our social lives.

Catherine Hobaiter, co-author and professor of psychology and neuroscience at St Andrews, said future studies will explore how shared feeding on fermented fruit may impact social bonding among apes.

What scrumping means for science
The term "scrumping" has medieval roots, originally describing the act of gathering windfallen apples or stealing fruit. Today, “scrumpy” refers to a type of strong, cloudy apple cider in parts of England.

Dominy said creating a term like this can help change how scientists approach and study animal behaviour. He compared it to other once-new words like “symbiosis” and “meme” that have become central to scientific language.

“If scrumping turns out to be useful, it’ll stick,” Dominy said. “That’s how science evolves—one word at a time.”

The researchers now plan to study fermentation levels in fruits on trees versus those on the ground to estimate alcohol intake among chimpanzees more accurately. Their findings may offer fresh insight into when and how humans first developed their unique tolerance for alcohol—and what we might have inherited from our ape ancestors.