Taste#Bitterness

Bitter is in addition to sweet, sour, salty and umami one of the five flavors, which can be perceived by the tongue.

As a contrast, a tart taste or smell is referred to, which tastes a little spicy or spicy and slightly bitter or sour or smell.

Fine dosed, the bitter taste of food and beverages give that "special something ". Examples that bear the word bitter in themselves, are bitter lemon, bitter orange, dark chocolate or bitter almonds. In higher concentration he can also make them unpalatable as the Bitterröhrling radicans (fungus).

Responsible for the bitter taste are the so-called bitter substances, such as the alkaloid quinine in bitter lemon. The bitter, non-alkaline, known compound is the denatonium benzoate.

The bitter taste is caused by bitter taste receptors on the tongue. These receptors are called hTAS2 receptors ( hTAS2R ). The small h at the beginning stands for human and therefore indicates that human receptors is discussed. The hTAS2R are located in the taste receptor cells, which in turn organize into the so-called taste buds. The taste buds are located in the taste buds on the tongue. Most hTAS2R are located in the papillae at the tongue base.