Taste etcetera

Water (H 2 O) has no taste. There are receptors for sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami (savoury). There is no water receptor. If water has a taste it is due to the substances dissolved in it. Water from the tap has many things in it. Hard water has a high mineral content in contrast to soft water, the minerals in hard water are calcium and magnesium. The hardness of water depends on where you live as well as what is done to the water before you drink it. As rainwater falls it is naturally soft (nothing in it). With time carbon dioxide from the air dissolves in the rainwater and this forms carbonic acid - a weak acid but strong enough to dissolve some calcium and magnesium from regions containing chalk increasing its mineral content and rendering it hard. There is a scale of hardness (in mg  of CaCO 3 /L or ppm); soft <60, hard = 120-180, very hard > 181. In the UK, Manchester's water is 25, London's is 275; in the USA >85% of homes have hard water (120-180); i...

What's new in taste today? Miracle fruit changes sour tastes to sweet. Miracle berries The active ingredient, "miraculin", binds to a site near the sweet receptor. When sour substances then are tasted, a conformational change in the taste cell membrane occurs in such a way as to bring the miraculin molecule into contact with the sweet receptor, activating it. You can buy miracle berry powder at the  Miracle Fruit Shop . I have not tried miracle berries or the powder but know people who have and the effect is spooky - you can eat lemons and they taste sweet apparently.  What then happens is that everyone eats loads of lemons, limes and grapefruits and gives themselves stomach aches from so much acidic fruit! Find out more about taste here Water tastes sweet after eating artichokes. They can also interfere with the taste of wine. Artichokes contain cynarin and chlorogenic acid which bind to sweet receptors (T1R2/T1R3)   reducing their constitutive act...