Scientists Discover Protein Receptor For Carbonation Taste

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Siddhartha

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You think you can feel the fizz on your tongue when drinking a soda? It’s all in your head, or rather, taste buds.
They found that the taste of carbonation is initiated by an enzyme tethered like a small flag from the surface of sour-sensing cells in taste buds. The enzyme, called carbonic anhydrase 4, interacts with the carbon dioxide in the soda, activating the sour cells in the taste bud and prompting it to send a sensory message to the brain, where carbonation is perceived as a familiar sensation.
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“Of course, this raises the question of why carbonation doesn’t just taste sour,” says Nicholas Ryba, Ph.D., a senior author of this study and an NIDCR scientist. “We know that carbon dioxide also stimulates the mouth’s somatosensory system. Therefore, what we perceive as carbonation must reflect the combination of this somatosensory information with that from taste.”
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Ryba added that the taste of carbonation is quite deceptive. “When people drink soft drinks, they think that they are detecting the bubbles bursting on their tongue,” he said. “But if you drink a carbonated drink in a pressure chamber, which prevents the bubbles from bursting, it turns out the sensation is actually the same. What people taste when they detect the fizz and tingle on their tongue is a combination of the activation of the taste receptor and the somatosensory cells. That’s what gives carbonation its characteristic sensation.”
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So, they finally revealed the source of the carbonic acid delusion. I suppose that ought to put to rest the belief in carbonic acid forever. 😃 Wait until Dawkins gets a hold of this earth-shaking news.
 
Ah! One less problem to keep me awake at night.

I am reminded of an old cartoon I had. Three men in white lab coats are standing before their boss holding a tray. On the tray there is a pile of gray dust and a sign - “Dehydrated Elephant.” They are saying, “Of course it isn’tgood for anything. But it shows what a lotof time and money will do for research.” [It may have been one of the stimulus projects. :D]
 
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