A growing literature suggests taste stimuli commonly classified as "bitter" induce heterogeneous neural and perceptual responses. Here, the central processing of bitter stimuli was studied in mice with genetically controlled bitter taste profiles. Using these mice removed genetic heterogeneity as a factor influencing gustatory neural codes for bitter stimuli. Electrophysiological activity (spik...

BACKGROUND Bitter cumin (Centratherum anthelminticum (L.) Kuntze), is a medicinally important plant. Earlier, we have reported phenolic compounds, antioxidant, and anti-hyperglycemic, antimicrobial activity of bitter cumin. In this study we have further characterized the antioxidative activity of bitter cumin extracts in various in vitro models. METHODS Bitter cumin seeds were extracted with ...

Cats are obligate carnivores and under most circumstances eat only animal products. Owing to the pseudogenization of one of two subunits of the sweet receptor gene, they are indifferent to sweeteners, presumably having no need to detect plant-based sugars in their diet. Following this reasoning and a recent report of a positive correlation between the proportion of dietary plants and the number...

Humans perceive thousands of compounds as bitter. In sharp contrast, only approximately 25 taste 2 receptors (TAS2R) bitter taste receptors have been identified, raising the question as to how the vast array of bitter compounds can be detected by such a limited number of sensors. To address this issue, we have challenged 25 human taste 2 receptors (hTAS2Rs) with 104 natural or synthetic bitter ...

The western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), is an endemic herbivore of bitter cherry, Prunus emarginata (Douglas ex Hooker) Eaton, but ∼100 years ago established on earlier-fruiting domesticated sweet cherry, Prunus avium (L.) L. Here, we determined if eclosion times of adult R. indifferens from sweet and bitter cherry differ according to the phenology of...

Corrections to “Recipe development and preparations” Approximately 50 g of uncooked bitter melon per one cup (250 ml) of raw ingredients was added to each dish, except curry dish. The curry dish does not have any other ingredients besides bitter melon and therefore contained approximately 61 g of bitter melon per onehalf cup (125 ml). Each of the raw ingredients in these recipes (except the cur...

Nutrient deprivation can lead to dramatic changes in feeding behavior, including acceptance of foods that are normally rejected. In flies, this behavioral shift depends in part on reciprocal sensitization and desensitization of sweet and bitter taste, respectively. However, the mechanisms for bitter taste modulation remain unclear. Here, we identify a set of octopaminergic/tyraminergic neurons,...

Human bitter taste is mediated by approximately 25 members of the human TAS2 receptor (hTAS2R) gene family. The hTAS2R genes are expressed in taste buds of gustatory papillae on the tongue surface. Because many naturally occurring bitter compounds are toxic, bitter taste receptors are believed to serve as warning sensors against the ingestion of toxic food compounds. An important question is wh...