Influence of chirality of amino acids on the growth of perceived taste intensity with concentration.
Amino acids have markedly different taste properties depending upon their chirality and the structure of their side chains. They can modify the taste quality of foods in which they are found naturally or to which they are added depending on their concentrations. In this study, the influence of chirality of amino acids on the growth in perceived taste intensity with concentration was examined. Serial dilutions of 19 D-amino acids were presented to young subjects who indicated the relative intensities of the dilutions using the magnitude estimation procedure. The slopes of the psychophysical functions for 13 of the 19 D-amino acids which related log concentration and log perceived intensity were greater than the slopes for L-amino acids that have been reported in a previous study. The ratio (average slope D-amino acids)/(average slope L-amino acids) was found to be 1.21. The ratio of the slopes for individual enantiomers bears some relationship to taste quality. No conclusive relationships between the slopes of the psychophysical functions were found with chemical structure of thresholds, however. Implications for receptor mechanisms and nutrition are discussed.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000596:Amino Acids; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009753:Nutritive Value; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013652:Taste Threshold / Q000502:physiology
D000596:Amino Acids