As a next step, researchers are tracing the signals of bitter from the receptors to the brain. Scientists also have discovered evidence of a receptor for umami compounds in rat taste bud cells. Glutamate, the food chemical behind umami's flavor, activates the receptor at levels shown to produce the taste of umami in rats. Researchers are now searching for ways to block the receptor and hopefully block the detection of umami compounds, which would further prove its status as an umami receptor. They also plan to confirm whether umami is a separate taste category or a combination of other tastes by tracing the mechanisms of glutamate detection from the receptor to the brain.
Researchers expect to pinpoint many more detectors in the near future.
Together, the findings likely will help untangle the brain's perception of taste and provide new molecular strategies to make dining tastier than ever. Gobble a snack and enzymes in your saliva break down the food into particles. These molecular crumbs contact onion-shaped structures termed taste buds. Recently, researchers uncovered evidence of specific molecules that reside on cells in the taste buds and set off flavor detection mechanisms for certain tastes. These molecular launching pads respond to the flavor chemicals from the crumbs and initiate a chemical reaction.