Suppression of bitterness using sodium salts (original) (raw)

Excessive bitterness is an ongoing taste problem for both the pharmaceutical and food industries. This paper reports on how salts (NaCl, NaAcetate, NaGluconate, LiCl, KCl) and bitter compounds (urea, quinine-HCl, caffeine, amiloride-HCl, magnesium sulfate, KCl) interact to influence bitter perception. Sodium salts differentially suppress bitterness of these compounds; for example urea bitterness was suppressed by over 70% by sodium salts, while MgSO 4 bitterness was not reduced. This study indicates that lithium ions had the same bitter suppressing ability as sodium ions, however the potassium cation had no bitter suppression ability. Changing the anion attached to the sodium didn't affect bitter suppression however as the anion increased in size, perceived saltiness decreased. This indicates that sodium's mode of action is at the peripheral taste level, rather than a cognitive affect. We speculate on potential sites of action of the sodium cation in the peripheral taste system.