Breslin P A, Beauchamp G K
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA.
Chem Senses. 1995 Dec;20(6):609-23. doi: 10.1093/chemse/20.6.609.
Taste interactions between salts (NaCl, LiCl, KCl, L-arginine:L-aspartic acid, Na-acetate and Na-gluconate) and bitter-tasting compounds (urea, quinine HCl, magnesium sulphate, KCl, amiloride HCl and caffeine) were investigated. In each study binary combinations of three or four concentrations of one bitter compound with four concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 M) of one salt were rated for bitterness and saltiness using the method of magnitude estimation. In most cases, perceived bitterness was suppressed by salts, although the degree of suppression varied. In general, bitterness suppression was not accompanied by an equivalent reciprocal suppression of saltiness. Only MgSO4 and amiloride had suppressing effects on the saltiness of NaCl at the intermediate concentrations and no bitter compound affected the saltiness at the high concentrations of NaCl. Since salt suppressed the bitterness of urea effectively, a detailed analysis of suppression of the bitterness of urea by different salts was conducted. Those studies indicated that the key component in this effect was the sodium or lithium ion for two reasons: first, all three sodium salts and the lithium salt had a suppressive effect on bitterness, whereas KCl did not; secondly, the effect of a salt on suppression of the bitterness of urea was independent of its perceived saltiness; that is, NaCl, Na-acetate (which is perceived as less salty than NaCl), and Na-gluconate (which is perceived as less salty than Na-acetate) reduced bitterness comparably. These results suggest that there is a major peripheral component to the suppression of the bitterness of urea, and perhaps other bitter tasting compounds, by sodium.
研究了盐（氯化钠、氯化锂、氯化钾、L-精氨酸：L-天冬氨酸、醋酸钠和葡萄糖酸钠）与苦味化合物（尿素、盐酸奎宁、硫酸镁、氯化钾、盐酸阿米洛利和咖啡因）之间的味觉相互作用。在每项研究中，使用量级估计法对一种苦味化合物的三种或四种浓度与一种盐的四种浓度（0、0.1、0.3和0.5M）的二元组合进行苦味和咸味评级。在大多数情况下，盐会抑制感知到的苦味，尽管抑制程度有所不同。一般来说，苦味抑制并不伴随着咸味的等效反向抑制。只有硫酸镁和阿米洛利在中间浓度时对氯化钠的咸味有抑制作用，且在高浓度氯化钠时没有苦味化合物影响其咸味。由于盐能有效抑制尿素的苦味，因此对不同盐对尿素苦味的抑制进行了详细分析。这些研究表明，这种效应的关键成分是钠离子或锂离子，原因有两个：第一，所有三种钠盐和锂盐对苦味都有抑制作用，而氯化钾没有；第二，一种盐对尿素苦味的抑制作用与其感知到的咸味无关；也就是说，氯化钠、醋酸钠（被认为比氯化钠咸味小）和葡萄糖酸钠（被认为比醋酸钠咸味小）对苦味的降低程度相当。这些结果表明，钠对尿素苦味以及可能对其他苦味化合物苦味的抑制存在一个主要的外周成分。
