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Bitter Odorants and Odorous Bitters: Toxicity and Human TAS2R Targets

Eitan Margulis1, Tatjana Lang2, Anne Tromelin3

  • 1Food Science and Nutrition, The Robert H Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Institute of Biochemistry, Food and Nutrition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
|June 1, 2023
PubMed

Insights

A small percentage of food odorants possess a bitter taste, often associated with unpleasant smells and potential toxicity. Researchers identified TAS2R14 as a key bitter receptor for these odorants.

Area of Science:

  • Sensory science
  • Molecular biology
  • Computational chemistry

Background:

  • Flavor perception involves olfactory, taste, and trigeminal systems.
  • Signal integration primarily occurs in the brain, with some cross-reactivity at the receptor level.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To predict bitter taste receptor targets for numerous odorants.
  • To investigate the relationship between odorant smell, bitterness, and toxicity.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized BitterPredict and BitterIntense classifiers to analyze thousands of odorants.
  • Performed in vitro profiling of 10 odorants to validate receptor predictions.

Main Results:

  • 3-9% of flavor and food odorants were predicted to have a bitter taste, with few being intensely bitter.
  • Approximately 14% of bitter molecules were predicted to have an odor.
  • Unpleasant smells (fishy, amine, ammoniacal) were more frequently bitter than pleasant smells.
  • Fishy and ammoniacal smells showed higher toxicity irrespective of bitterness.
  • TAS2R14 was identified as the primary bitter receptor for odorants, validated experimentally.

Conclusions:

  • Odorant bitterness is linked to unpleasant smells and potential toxicity.
  • TAS2R14 plays a significant role in detecting bitter odorants.
  • Ectopic expression of taste and smell receptors may have physiological implications.
Keywords:
GPCRTAS2R14bitterfishyfloralmachine learningodorolfactiontastetoxic

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