Bitter compounds: What is behind the bitter taste?
Along with sweet, sour, salty, and umami, bitter is one of the basic human taste qualities. But why do some foods taste bitter at all? Why do some people perceive bitterness much more strongly than others? And what do we actually mean when we speak of "bitter compounds" in everyday life?
A look at the fascinating world of bitter taste.
What are bitter compounds?
The term "bitter compounds" does not refer to a single, clearly defined group of substances. Rather, many very different natural compounds can produce a bitter taste.
Therefore, their sensory property is the decisive factor: they are perceived by us as bitter.
Such bitter-tasting compounds occur naturally in numerous plants and foods. The intensity can vary greatly – from a fine, tart note to distinct bitterness.
How do we perceive bitter taste?
Our mouths contain taste buds with specialized sensory cells. Specific receptors on these cells react to bitter-tasting molecules. When such a receptor is activated, signals are transmitted and finally perceived as taste in the brain.
Humans possess a whole family of different bitter taste receptors for the perception of bitterness. This allows very different bitter-tasting compounds to be recognized.
Why are we even able to taste bitterness?
The ability to perceive bitter taste is a fundamental part of our sense of taste. From an evolutionary biology perspective, it is assumed that the perception of bitterness helped, among other things, to identify certain potentially problematic substances in food.
However, this does not mean that bitter-tasting foods are fundamentally unsuitable or undesirable. Many everyday foods naturally possess tart or bitter flavor notes.
Why does bitter not taste the same to everyone?
Bitterness is perceived differently from person to person. Some individuals react very sensitively to certain bitter-tasting substances, while others find the same foods significantly less bitter.
One of the reasons for this lies in our genes. Variants of certain bitter taste receptors can influence how intensely individual bitter compounds are perceived.
But experience, habituation, and personal eating habits also play a role. Taste is therefore always individual as well.
Where do we encounter bitter taste in everyday life?
Bitter and tart notes are found in many familiar foods. These include, for example:
- Coffee
- Cocoa
- Grapefruit
- Chicory
- Radicchio
- Arugula
- Artichoke
- Various herbs and spice plants
How bitter a food actually tastes depends not only on its ingredients, but also, for example, on the variety, processing, preparation, and individual perception.
From mildly tart to decidedly bitter
There are also great differences in bitter taste among plants. Some possess only a slightly tart note, while others are known for their pronounced bitterness.
A particularly well-known example is wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). This silvery-gray plant is known for its intensely bitter character and, at the same time, looks back on an interesting European cultural history.
Is bitter automatically healthy?
No. A bitter taste by itself is no indication of whether a food is healthy or unhealthy.
“Bitter” initially describes a sensory property. The health evaluation of a food cannot be derived solely from a single taste quality, but must always be viewed in the context of the entire food and one's diet.
Likewise, "bitter compounds" are not a uniform nutrient group like vitamins or minerals. The term encompasses different compounds whose common property is that we perceive them as bitter.
Bitterness is part of the diversity of our sense of taste
From the fine, tart note of a salad to the intensely bitter character of certain herbs: bitterness is a perfectly natural part of the diversity of our food world.
How we perceive it is the interplay of sensory physiology, genetic differences, and personal experiences. This is precisely why bitter is a particularly interesting taste quality – and a little different for every person.
Sources and further information
- National Institutes of Health (NIH): Detailed structure of bitter taste receptor revealed. Background on the perception of bitter taste and bitter taste receptors.
- Reed DR et al.: Diverse tastes: Genetics of sweet and bitter perception. Overview of genetic differences in human taste perception.
- Ledda M et al.: GWAS of human bitter taste perception identifies new loci and reveals additional complexity of bitter taste genetics. Research on genetic differences in the perception of bitterness.
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