A role for calcium in taste perception

Calcium may not come to mind when you think of tasty foods, but in a study appearing in the January 8 issue of JBC, Japanese researchers have provided the first demonstration that calcium channels on the tongue are the targets ...

Latest findings on bitter substances in coffee

Coffee is very popular around the world despite or perhaps because of its bitter taste. Compounds contained in the coffee such as caffeine contribute to the bitterness to varying degrees. A recent study conducted by the Leibniz-Institute ...

Sensing sweetness on a molecular level

Whether it's chocolate cake or pasta sauce, the sensation of sweetness plays a major role in the human diet and the perception of other flavors. While a lot is known about the individual proteins that signal "sweet," not ...

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 ...

Plaguing insects with bittersweet tastes to protect crops

Herbivorous insects are estimated to be responsible for destroying one-fifth of the world's total crop production annually, but a new, natural approach to pesticides that turns insects' taste and smell preferences against ...

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 ...

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