Tongue's sixth 'taste' discovered - calcium

[Akoto]

Tongue's sixth 'taste' discovered — calcium
Study finds new flavor mice can detect, suggesting people can as well

Here's the new taste sensation — your tongue might be able to taste calcium.

The capability to taste calcium has now been discovered in mice. With these rodents and humans sharing many of the same genes, the new finding suggests that people might also have such a taste.

The four tastes we are most familiar with are sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Recently scientists have discovered tongue molecules called receptors that detect a fifth distinct taste — "umami," or savory.

"But why stop there?" asked researcher Michael Tordoff, a behavioral geneticist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. "My group has been investigating what we believe is another taste quality — calcium."

LINK: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315648/

Interesting story, I thought. ;)

[pitohui]

1. um we didn't notice all along that we could taste calcium?

i admit it, i'm stumped that this is news

[lightningandsnow]

2. How would calcium taste?

I wonder...elemental calcium is a metal, so would it taste metallic? There are many different calcium compounds, too.

Fascinating.

[Akoto]

5. Well, according to the article (love the first line) ..

"Calcium tastes calcium-y," Tordoff said. "There isn't a better word for it. It is bitter, perhaps even a little sour. But it's much more because there are actual receptors for calcium, not just bitter or sour compounds."

One way we might regularly perceive calcium is when it comes to minute levels found in drinking water.

"In tap water, it's fairly pleasant," Tordoff said. "But at levels much above that, the taste becomes increasingly bad."

[rug]

3. So that's why I find myself inexplicably gnawing bones.

[DarkTirade]

4. Damn it, I'm a Doctor, not a chew toy!

[RadiationTherapy]

6. *It tastes like burning*

The idea of calcium metal on a wet tongue...or am I misremembering chemistry?