Decoding Garlic’s Pizzazz: Extract stimulates taste, temperature receptors
Despite garlic’s widespread role in cooking—and in vampire tales—scientists had long failed to explain the pungent plant’s burning taste. Now, a study of gustatory physiology suggests that raw garlic’s characteristic spiciness stems from its capacity to open channels on nerve cells that react to both tastes and noxious temperatures.
Researchers have identified a family of neuron receptors, known as transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, that respond to diverse triggers including touch, pain, and pheromones. At least six of these receptors, a subset called thermoTRPs, react to both certain molecules and unpleasant temperatures by permitting a flood of calcium ions to enter nerve cells, which then fire.