The purpose of this study was to quantify the degree of suppression of the perceived bitterness of quinine by various substances and to examine the mechanism of bitterness suppression. The following compounds were tested for their ability to suppress bitterness: sucrose, a natural sweetener; aspartame, a noncaloric sweetener; sodium chloride (NaCl) as the electrolyte; phosphatidic acid, a comme...

In order to study potential mixture interactions among bitter compounds, selected sodium salts were added to five compounds presented either alone or as binary bitter-compound mixtures. Each compound was tested at a concentration that elicited 'weak' perceived bitterness. The bitter compounds were mixed at these concentrations to form a subset of possible binary mixtures. For comparison, the co...

The masking of bitterness is considered important because many pharmaceutical compounds have a bitter taste. The bitterness-masking effect of powdered roasted soybeans (PRS) was investigated using a bitter taste sensor. PRS was revealed to significantly suppress the bitterness of quinine hydrochloride and denatonium benzoate. Furthermore, the bitterness-masking mechanism of PRS extracts was eva...

Polymorphisms in the TAS2R38 gene provide insight to phenotypes long associated 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and phenylthiocarbamide bitterness. We tested relationships between TAS2R38 genotype, taste phenotype, and fungiform papillae (FP) number in 139 females and 59 males (age range 21-60 years), primarily of European ancestry. DNA was analyzed for 3 polymorphic sites, identifying common (alan...

26 Thirty-four commercial lager beers were analysed for their hop bitter acid, phenolic acid 27 and polyphenol contents. Based on analytical data, it was evident that the beers had 28 been produced using a range of different raw materials and hopping practices. Principal 29 Components Analysis was used to select a sub-set of 10 beers that contained diverse 30 concentrations of the analysed bitt...

Bitterness and astringency are found in a variety of foods, including nuts, fruits, chocolate, tea, wine, and soymilk. In fruits and beverages, the taste of bitterness and the tactile sensation of astringency are elicited primarily by flavanol polymers (proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins). Variations in proanthocyanidin composition, such as polymer size, extent of galloylation, and formatio...

Stepparents commit filicide at higher rates than do genetic parents. According to M. Daly and M. I. Wilson (1994), motivational differences generate differences in the methods by which stepparents and genetic parents kill a child. Using Canadian and British national-level databases, Daly and Wilson (1994) found that stepfathers were more likely than genetic fathers to commit filicide by beating...

BACKGROUND Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP), chemically related compounds, are probes for genetic variation in bitter taste, although PROP is safer with less sulfurous odor. Threshold for PROP distinguishes nontasters (increased threshold) from tasters (lower threshold); perceived intensity subdivides tasters into medium tasters (PROP is bitter) and supertasters (PROP i...

Instrumental bitterness assessment of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM) preparations was addressed in this study. Three different approaches were evaluated, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to UV detector (HPLC), capillary electrophoresis coupled to UV detector (CE) and a potentiometric multisensor system - electronic tongue (ET). Most studies involving HPLC and CE separat...

Demand for nonnutritive sweeteners continues to increase due to their ability to provide desirable sweetness with minimal calories. Acesulfame potassium and saccharin are well-studied nonnutritive sweeteners commonly found in food products. Some individuals report aversive sensations from these sweeteners, such as bitter and metallic side tastes. Recent advances in molecular genetics have provi...