ABSTRACT
The ionized H-saccharin molecule produces an acidic receptor environment which has variable effects on mammalian behavioral and electrophysiological responses to this compound. The mammalian amino acid taste response has come under intense study. In the human, most of the d-enantiomers taste sweet, whereas the l-amino acids are tasteless, sweet, or bittersweet. Chloroform seems to be the only sweetener unaffected by gymnemic acid. In human psychophysical experiments, miraculin by itself did not elicit a sweet taste. However, when mixed with acid, a sweet-sour sensation resulted. Based on behavioral and electrophysiological evidence, these two protein sweeteners seem to be gustatory stimulants only in Old World primates. Since W. S. Zawalich suggested that the sweetener taste receptor protein may also be involved in other cellular processes, such as secretory regulation, many metabolic inhibitors have been tested electrophysiologically as potential antagonist inhibitors of the sweet taste response.
