Humans can sense five different tastes: sour, sweet, umami, bitter, and salty, using specialized sensors on our tongues called taste receptors. Other than allowing us to enjoy delicious foods, the sensation of taste allows ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 10, 2024
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37
Whereas humans have one receptor on their tongues that can detect all sorts of sweet things, from real sugar to artificial sweeteners like aspartame, insects have many receptors that each detect specific types of sugars. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 6, 2024
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15
The perception of taste is one of the most important senses and helps us identify beneficial foods and avoid harmful substances. For instance, our fondness for sweet and savory foods results from our need to consume carbohydrates ...
Evolution
Dec 29, 2023
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133
A research team from the University of Cologne, in collaboration with colleagues from the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology in Freising, has discovered a receptor for bitter taste in twelve different cartilaginous ...
Evolution
Nov 13, 2023
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57
Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda first proposed umami as a basic taste—in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter—in the early 1900s. About eight decades later, the scientific community officially agreed with him.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 5, 2023
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393
Taste receptors for bitter substances are not only found on the tongue but also on cells outside the oral cavity. As a new study by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich now ...
Evolution
Jul 3, 2023
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37
Whether or not animals can taste basic or alkaline food and how they do it has remained a mystery until now. A research group led by Yali Zhang, Ph.D., principal investigator at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, recently ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 20, 2023
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8
Surprisingly, bitter taste receptors are not only located in the mouth, but also elsewhere in the body, including the airways. Activating those receptors opens up lung passageways, so they're a potential target for treating ...
Biochemistry
Mar 13, 2023
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26
The composition of foodstuffs, but also the sequence of dishes, is important for the perfect taste experience of a menu. This insight, based on experience, is well known. The molecular causes of the pleasure-enhancing effects, ...
Biochemistry
Jan 23, 2023
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7
Humans and fruit flies respond to many of the same tastes—sweet, salty, bitter and so on. The receptors that identify these substances, however, are very different between us and insects. Except when it comes to sour.
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 13, 2021
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