Abstract
In addition to the sense of taste and olfaction, chemesthesis, the sensation of irritation, pungency, cooling, warmth, or burning elicited by spices and herbs, plays a central role in food consumption. Many plant-derived molecules demonstrate their chemesthetic properties via the opening of transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels. TRPA1 and TRPV1 are structurally related thermosensitive cation channels and are often co-expressed in sensory nerve endings. TRPA1 and TRPV1 can also indirectly influence some, but not all, primary taste qualities via the release of substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) from trigeminal neurons and their subsequent effects on CGRP receptor expressed in Type III taste receptor cells. Here, we will review the effect of some chemesthetic agonists of TRPA1 and TRPV1 and their influence on bitter, sour, and salt taste qualities.
Highlights
Many herbs- and spices-derived transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) agonists such as allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) [15,36], allicin [37,38], and cinnamaldehyde [36] are electrophiles that covalently modify the channel upon binding through three cysteine residues, Cys621, Cys641, Cys665, or Lys710, located in the cytoplasmic NH2 -terminal domain in human TRPA1 (hTRPA1) (Figure 1) [39,40,41,42,43]
Other studies suggest that some electrophiles and oxidants activate the purified hTRPA1 [19,21] and herbs- and spices-derived TRPA1 agonists such as allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) [15,36], allicin [37,38], and cinnamaldehyde [36] are electrophiles that covalently modify the channel upon binding through three cysteine residues, Cys621, Cys641, Cys665, or Lys710, located
Spices and herbs contain chemicals that produce the sensation of chemesthesis by activating thermosensitive transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, including TRPA1 and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1)
Summary
Different parts of a plant including leaves, roots, bulbs, fruits, seeds, berries, kernels, and bark contain compounds that elicit unique flavors, and are used to enhance the hedonic value of food. Consumption of spices and herbs elicits the perception of irritation, pungency, cooling, warmth, or burning in the mouth These sensations induced by spices and herbs are generally not considered to directly interact with the gustatory system but contribute to the chemical sense referred to as chemesthesis [4]. These sensations add to the hedonic aspect of food and provide additional health benefits [5]. Among the TRP channels, TRPV1 and TRPA1 are often co-expressed in trigeminal ganglion neurons, and are the most relevant ion channels in chemesthesis These channels can be activated by spices and herbs and are well studied in terms of the molecular mechanisms involving chemically induced opening of these channels. We will review the potential role of TRPA1 and TRPV1 in chemesthesis and their interactions with primary taste qualities in the gustatory system
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