REVIEW ARTICLE I HOW AND WHY WE TASTE In contrast, other tastes, e.g. sweetness, some bitter tastes and umami, are detected when a chemical binds to a specific membrane protein in a taste receptor cell. Chemicals of a particular shape can fit in the binding site and initiate the response. This is called the ‘lockand-key’ principle. The response is a change in the flow of ions across the membrane, which causes the release of the neurotransmitter, and a nerve impulse is sent to the brain.[7]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR VERA GRANKINA is currently a first year student studying Chemistry with Mathematics at UCL. She enjoys yoga and cross-country in her spare time. Her main areas of interest include history of science and chemistry of flavours and fragrances.
While the taste sensory system is not completely understood, understanding taste might have a lot of practical uses. It could be possible to lower salt intake of people with high blood pressure by designing an artificial salt receptor. Elderly people often lose their sense of taste and the pleasure of eating might be returned to them, thus improving their quality of life.[8]
REFERENCES 1. Tim Jacob, A tutorial on the sense of smell http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/biosi/staffinfo/jacob/teaching/sensory/olfact1.html 2. P. W. Atkins ‘Molecules’, ‘Scientific American Library’ 1987 Page 105 Lines 6-12 3. Tim Jacob, A tutorial on the sense of taste http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/staffinfo/jacob/teaching/sensory/ taste.html 4. Wikipedia page, Taste buds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste_bud 5. Savitri K Kamath PhD, RD http://www.ajcn.org/content/36/4/766.full.pdf 6. R. Bowen (2006) Physiology of Taste http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/ pregastric/taste.html 7. Barbara E. Goodman, Taste Receptors http://www.chemistryexplained.com/St-Te/Taste-Receptors. html 8. Jane Bradbury, Taste Perception: Cracking the Code (What Next—and Why Study Taste Anyway?) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC368160/
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Young scientists journal
issue 15 – Jan 14 - June 14