Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Editorial
. 2013 Sep;145(3):500-3.
doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.07.018. Epub 2013 Jul 25.

In search of a role for carbonation: is this a good or bad taste?

Catia Sternini
Editorial

In search of a role for carbonation: is this a good or bad taste?

Catia Sternini. Gastroenterology. 2013 Sep.
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The author discloses no conflicts.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Taste buds and taste transmission. Taste buds are made up of clusters of cells tasting different tastes. These include 3 major types of cells, type I or glia-like cells, which are likely to detect salt; type II or receptor cells, which detect sweet, umami, and bitter tastes; and type III or presynaptic cells, which detect sour and carbonation. Each taste is detected by specialized sensors expressed on these cells: sweet and umami are detected by T1Rs and bitter by T2R receptor families; sour, carbonation, and salt by ion channels (see paragraph, How Does “Taste” Work?). Type II cells, when activated, release adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that in turn activates other type II cells and type III cells to release transmitters as well as gustatory fibers. Type III cells release different transmitters: serotonin, GABA, and noradrenaline. It is not known whether type I cells release any transmitters. Each cell communicates with afferent fibers that are intermingled in the gustatory nerves, which transport the information generated in the taste buds to the gustatory cortex through different neuronal stations, including the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), the parabrachial nucleus (PbN), and the ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) of the thalamus. Information is processed in the brain where each taste activates distinct clusters of neurons. GPCRs detecting sweet and umami (T1Rs) and bitter (T2Rs) tastes are also found in the gastrointestinal mucosa and their activation results in the release of hormones/signaling molecules that induce a variety of functions, including motility and secretion and activate afferent neurons communicating with the brain.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Malik VS, Popkin BM, Bray GA, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2010;33:2477–2483. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fowler SP, Williams K, Resendez RG, et al. Fueling the obesity epidemic? Artificially sweetened beverage use and long-term weight gain. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2008;16:1894–1900. - PubMed
    1. Di Salle F, Cantone E, Savarese MF, et al. Effect of carbonation on brain processing of sweet stimuli in humans. Gastroenterology. 2013;145:537–539. - PubMed
    1. Frank GK, Oberndorfer TA, Simmons AN, et al. Sucrose activates human taste pathways differently from artificial sweetener. Neuroimage. 2008;39:1559–1569. - PubMed
    1. Green E, Murphy C. Altered processing of sweet taste in the brain of diet soda drinkers. Physiol Behav. 2012;107:560–567. - PMC - PubMed