Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of bitter vetch. Experiment 1 was conducted to determine the metabolisable energy content of bitter vetch. Sixteen adult Leghorn roosters were used. Forty grams of bitter vetch were precision-fed individually to 12 roosters. In addition, 4 birds were not fed and served as a control treatment in the measurement of metabolic fecal...

Animals can discriminate among many different types of foods. This discrimination process involves multiple sensory systems, but the sense of taste is known to play a central role. We asked how the taste system contributes to the discrimination of different "bitter" taste stimuli in Manduca sexta caterpillars. This insect has approximately eight bilateral pairs of taste cells that respond selec...

The bitter taste of many protein rich foods resides in the peptide fraction. 61 bitter tasting peptides, isolated from natural systems, and 145 bitter tasting synthetic peptides are reviewed. The relationships between average hydrophobicity and bitter taste are then discussed.

Molecular data suggest that receptors for all bitter ligands are coexpressed in the same taste receptor cells (TRCs), whereas physiological results indicate that individual TRCs respond to only a subset of bitter stimuli. It is also unclear to what extent bitter-responsive neurons are stimulated by nonbitter stimuli. To explore these issues, single neuron responses were recorded from the rat nu...

Taste receptors play a crucial role in detecting the presence of bitter compounds such as alkaloids, and help to prevent the ingestion of toxic food. In Drosophila, we show for the first time that several taste sensilla on the prothoracic legs detect bitter compounds both through the activation of specific taste neurons but also through inhibition of taste neurons activated by sugars and water....

The extent of diversity among bitter-sensing neurons is a fundamental issue in the field of taste. Data are limited and conflicting as to whether bitter neurons are broadly tuned and uniform, resulting in indiscriminate avoidance of bitter stimuli, or diverse, allowing a more discerning evaluation of food sources. We provide a systematic analysis of how bitter taste is encoded by the major tast...

Many bitter stimuli are believed to bind to specific G-protein-coupled membrane receptors on taste cells. Despite the compelling evidence for its pivotal role in bitter taste sensation, a direct involvement of the G-protein subunit -gustducin in bitter taste transduction in taste cells has not been demonstrated in situ at the cellular level. We recorded activation of taste cells by bitter stimu...

background and objectives: the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of bitter orange (citrus aurantium) leaf, ripe and unripe peel essential oils, cultivated in southwest of iran, were investigated. materials and methods: the analysis of chemical composition of hydro-distilled essential oils was carried out by gc-ms. the disc diffusion and broth micro-dilution were used to assay the ...

Background & aim: The fruit of Citrullus colocynthis has a bitter taste and antibacterial properties against pathogen factors.The aim of current research was to study the effects of different dietary level of bitter cucumber fruit powderwith and without protexin probiotic supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits and intestinal morphology of broiler chicks....

BACKGROUND Although beneficial to health, dietary phytonutrients are bitter, acid and/or astringent in taste and therefore reduce consumer choice and acceptance during food selection. Momordica charantia, commonly known as bitter melon has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine to treat diabetes and its complications. The aim of this study was to develop bitter melon-containi...