Evidence that Humans Can Taste Glucose Polymers
Evidence that Humans Can Taste Glucose Polymers
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DOI：
10.1093/chemse/bju031
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发表时间：
2014-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Lim, Juyun
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lapis, Trina J.;Penner, Michael H.;Lim, Juyun
味觉对于识别潜在的营养物质和毒素至关重要。因此，特殊的味觉受体细胞被食物衍生的化学物质激活。由于淀粉在人类饮食中的重要性，口腔检测淀粉或其降解产物可能非常有益。然而，长期以来人们一直认为单糖是人类可以品尝到的唯一一类碳水化合物。然而，有大量证据表明，啮齿动物可以尝到淀粉降解产物（即由具有 3-10 个葡萄糖单位的麦芽低聚糖和具有 >10 个葡萄糖单位的麦芽多糖组成的葡萄糖聚合物），并且它们的检测独立于甜味受体 T1R2/T1R3。本研究的目的是：1）测量人类对葡萄糖聚合物味觉的个体差异，2）了解唾液α-淀粉酶活性的个体差异，3）研究唾液α-淀粉酶在葡萄糖聚合物味觉中可能发挥的作用。在第一个实验中，受试者在捏住鼻子的情况下评价葡萄糖、蔗糖、氯化钠和不同链长的葡萄糖聚合物的味道强度。还收集了受试者的唾液样本并测定了他们的唾液α-淀粉酶活性。结果表明，葡萄糖、蔗糖和 NaCl 的感知强度显着相关（r = 0.75-0.85，P < 0.001），但与长链葡萄糖聚合物不相关，而所有葡萄糖聚合物的强度评级彼此高度相关（r = 0.69-0.82，P < 0.001）。重要的是，尽管受试者之间的α-淀粉酶活性存在很大的个体差异，但具有高和低α-淀粉酶活性的个体对葡萄糖聚合物的反应没有显着差异。进行后续实验以量化葡萄糖聚合物刺激物中固有存在的葡萄糖和麦芽糖的浓度，并确定这些量是否在可感知的可检测范围内。结果显示，测试刺激中存在的单糖含量微不足道，并且大多处于不可检测的水平。这些数据共同提供了强有力的证据，证明人类可以品尝葡萄糖聚合物，并且对葡萄糖聚合物的反应独立于对单糖的反应。
The sense of taste is essential for identifying potential nutrients and poisons. Accordingly, specialized taste receptor cells are activated by food-derived chemicals. Because of its importance in the human diet, oral detection of starch, or its degradation products, would presumably be highly beneficial. Yet, it has long been assumed that simple sugars are the only class of carbohydrates that humans can taste. There is, however, considerable evidence that rodents can taste starch degradation products (i.e., glucose polymers composed of maltooligosaccharides with 3-10 glucose units and maltopolysaccharides with >10 glucose units) and that their detection is independent of the sweet taste receptor, T1R2/T1R3. The present study was designed 1) to measure individual differences in human taste perception of glucose polymers, 2) to understand individual differences in the activity of salivary a-amylase, and 3) to investigate the role that salivary a-amylase may play in the taste perception of glucose polymers. In the first experiment, subjects rated taste intensity of glucose, sucrose, NaCl, and glucose polymers of various chain lengths, while their noses were clamped. Saliva samples from the subjects were also collected and their salivary a-amylase activity was assayed. Results showed that the perceived intensities of glucose, sucrose, and NaCl were significantly correlated (r = 0.75-0.85, P < 0.001), but not with the longer chain glucose polymers, whereas intensity ratings of all glucose polymers were highly correlated with one another (r = 0.69-0.82, P < 0.001). Importantly, despite large individual differences in a-amylase activity among subjects, responsiveness to glucose polymers did not significantly differ between individuals with high and low a-amylase activity. A follow up experiment was conducted to quantify the concentrations of glucose and maltose that were inherently present in the glucose polymer stimuli and to determine whether the amounts were within a perceptually detectable range. Results revealed that the amounts of simple sugars present in the test stimuli were trivial and were mostly at an undetectable level. These data together provide strong evidence that humans can taste glucose polymers and that the responsiveness to glucose polymers is independent of that to simple sugars.