The origin of off-taste in onions

Chopping onions is usually associated with watery and stinging eyes. But after the onions are diced and the tears are dried, the vegetable pieces can sometimes develop an unpleasant bitter taste. Now, one group reports in ...

Beef peptides block bitter tastes

From burgers to steaks, beef has a long history of being a delicious part of dinner. But what if that pleasant experience of eating beef could extend beyond the dinner plate? Now, one group reports in ACS' Journal of Agricultural ...

Mixing artificial sweeteners inhibits bitter taste receptors

Blends of artificial sweeteners such as saccharin and cyclamate produce less of a bitter off-taste than each of the individual components, but the explanation for this puzzling phenomenon has been elusive ever since its discovery ...

Why cats are fussy eaters but dogs will consume almost anything

Anyone who's watched a cat throwing up after munching on grass knows that our feline friends aren't natural plant eaters. So you might be surprised to discover that these carnivorous animals share some important genes that ...

Cats retain multiple functional bitter taste receptors

According to new research from the Monell Center, cats have at least seven functional bitter taste receptors. Further, a comparison of cat to related species with differing dietary habits reveals that there does not appear ...

Cat got your tongue? New research says 'no'

Cat taste receptors respond in a unique way to bitter compounds compared with human receptors, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience. The study represents the first glimpse into how domestic ...

Genetic evidence shows loss of three basic tastes in penguins

A University of Michigan-led study of penguin genetics has concluded that the flightless aquatic birds lost three of the five basic vertebrate tastes—sweet, bitter and the savory, meaty taste known as umami—more than ...

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