plants that give flavour Flashcards
what are the 5 different tastes?
- sweet - slaty - bitter - sour - umami
sweet taste comes from …
simple carbs
salty taste comes from …
sodium and a few other cations
sour taste comes from …
acids
bitter tastes comes from ….
toxic compounds
umami taste comes from …
glutamate, aspartate, some RNAs
the number of compounds that elicits bitter taste are by far the …. and most ….
largest and most structurally diverse (all alkaloids are bitter)
what are T2Rs
bitter taste receptor genes
how often are taste receptors cells replaced?
taste receptor cells are continuously replaced in the bud every 9 to 15 days
why are taste receptors continuously replaced?
to compensate for mechanical, thermal, or toxin-induced damage
bitter flavour is caused by which compounds? (6)
alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, isoflavones, terpenes and glucosinolates
why are nutrients in plants ALWAYS associated with bitter
potential toxic phytochemical AND/OR indicates medicinal qualities (quinine)
… alters taste responses
pregnancy
… is the response to sensitivity to bitter stimuli
nausea
why are we more sensitive to bitter during pregnancy?
protective response at a time when major fetal organs are first forming and are HIGHLY sensitive to low levels of toxins
which species can taste umami?
early hominids and modern humans
where is umami obvious?
in aged or cooked meats
humans have developed a taste for …, …., and … taste as markers of easily digestible proteins
glutamate, ribonucleotides, and umami taste
fermented foods are also high in glutamate, what is that marker used for?
marker of improved nutrition and probiotic bacteria
all mammals produce …….. but only great apes and some rodents have …….
pancreatic alpha-amylase
salivary alpha-amylase
how are humans unique when it comes to evolution of sweet?
we have large-scale copy number polymorphism of salivary amylase gene AMY1
acids may indicate the presence of ….
vitamin C
mixture of …. with …. enables the identification of fruit ripeness
acids with sugars
difference between carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores when it comes to salt ingestion
carnivores: ingest salt with every meal
herbivores: can easily become salt depleted
omnivores: moderate concentrations of are highly attractive
how do humans lose salt?
through sweating
terpenes are naturally occurring compounds derives from ….
isoprene
terpenes contain multiples of … carbon atoms
5
