Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - [Livingontheland] It?s Not the Taste Buds

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] It?s Not the Taste Buds
  • Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 19:40:57 -0600

It?s Not the Taste Buds
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/quest.html
By Dave DeWitt

I admit it, I was completely wrong. But I have an excuse: I was misled by
published articles. For years I have written that the sensitivity in the
mouth for capsaicin was controlled by the number of taste buds, and that
super-tasters, people with a higher concentration of taste buds, couldn?t
take the hot stuff as well as the non-tasters, who had a genetically-linked
lesser number of them in their mouths. Sometime in 2002, I received an email
from a reader telling me I was wrong and that taste buds could only detect
sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and umami flavors. (Umami is the flavor of
monosodium glutamate, or MSG.) He wrote that capsaicin is not detected by the
taste buds because it does not fall into any of those five categories. This
person promised to forward links to prove me wrong, but he never did, so I
forgot about it.

Taste Buds Illustration by Lois Lyles

But in May, 2003, the proof was, well, in the spicy pudding. Scientists
Elizabeth D. Prescott and David Julius of the University of California, San
Francisco, announced they had identified a lipid molecule called PIP2 that
plays a crucial role in controlling the strength of the burning sensation
caused by capsaicin. A lipid molecule is a fatty molecule, insoluble in
water, but soluble in fat solvents and alcohol?just like capsaicin. In the
mouth, there is a capsaicin receptor called TRPV1 and the lipid molecule PIP2
is bound to it. In the presence of capsaicin, the PIP2 molecule separates
from the receptor, causing a painful sensation. Here?s the scientific
description: "In this process, the capsaicin receptor (TRPV1) is sensitized
by phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) hydrolysis following
phospholipase C activation." That?s quite a mouthful.

Now, what governs the degree of pain? The strength of the binding of the
molecule to the receptor, say the scientists?the stronger the binding, the
more powerful the pain sensation when the capsaicin causes the separation.
And what determines the strength of the binding? To quote the researchers:
"Thus, modification of this PIP2 regulatory domain by genetic, biochemical,
or pharmacological mechanisms may have profound effects on sensitivity of
primary afferent nerve fibers to chemical and thermal stimuli under normal or
pathological conditions."

Now I?m no scientist, but it seems to me that they are saying that the
sensitivity to capsaicin is determined by genetics?some people?s lipid
molecules have a stronger bond with the capsaicin receptors than others. But
by stating that biochemical and pharmacological mechanisms can also play a
role, this could explain why some people become desensitized to capsaicin and
can take more and more heat.

I?m certain that further study will reveal even more information regarding
this process, so stay tuned. And by the way, if you are worried about
capsaicin destroying your five to ten thousand taste buds, you should know
that all of them are replaced every two weeks, anyway. So forget about your
taste buds and concentrate on the binding of your lipid molecules!




  • [Livingontheland] It?s Not the Taste Buds, Tradingpost, 09/14/2004

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page