capsaicin
compound / compound-capsaicin
カプサイシン
Capsaicin is a representative vanilloid that causes the hot sensation of chili peppers. Unlike basic taste bitterness on the tongue, it is a chemical sense that produces stimulation resembling heat or pain, primarily mediated by TRPV1.
On this page (6 sections)
Reading the bitterness
In an experiment in which one side of the anterior dorsal tongue was pretreated with capsaicin at high concentration (33 ppm/109 µM) or low concentration (1.5 ppm/4.9 µM) and compared with the untreated site on the opposite side, a significant proportion of subjects rated quinine bitterness, sucrose sweetness, and glutamate umami on the untreated side as stronger, whereas saltiness and sourness showed no difference. It is reported within the abstract that when a 15-minute pause was inserted until the burning sensation from capsaicin disappeared, this left-right difference was eliminated.
In an experiment in which stimulus pairs were presented at positions 2 cm to the left and right of the tongue tip and subjects rated perceptual similarity, multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis classified capsaicin as closest to quinine sulfate (bitterness) in the same cluster, separating into a different cluster from sucrose, citric acid, and NaCl, as reported within the abstract. Although bitterness and capsaicin's burning sensation are transmitted by different sensory pathways, this result suggests that the two are perceptually similar.
A review on the interaction between pungent and basic tastes summarizes that sweetness and bitterness mitigate the oral burning sensation caused by capsaicin and piperine, and notes that bitter substances show the smallest mitigation effect on the perception of capsaicin compared to other basic tastes. The same review also notes that as capsaicin concentration increases, the suppression effect on coexisting bitter stimuli becomes stronger; however, these are descriptions based on prior research cited in the review, and the original research itself has not been verified.
Sources for this overview
Taste Suppression Following Lingual Capsaicin Pre-treatment in Humans
Checked for this overview: Suppression of bitterness and other tastes by unilateral pretreatment and their disappearance after rest.
Checked for this overview: Proximity of capsaicin and bitterness in multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. / Classification in the same cluster as bitter stimuli.
Pungency Perception and the Interaction with Basic Taste Sensations: An Overview
Checked for this overview: Review description of basic tastes including bitterness mitigating capsaicin's burning sensation. / Review description of capsaicin dose-dependent bitter suppression effect.
Follow the connections
capsaicin →can decrease→ bitterness →can be measured separately …→ astringency
capsaicin →is correlated with→ quinine →elicits→ bitterness
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Sensory (5)
Scope: Layer: solution. One side of the front half of the human tongue dorsum was pretreated with capsaicin (high concentration 33 ppm/109 uM, low concentration 1.5 ppm/4.9 uM) and compared with the untreated side. 5 stimuli (sucrose, NaCl, quinine, monosodium glutamate, citric acid) were applied to both sides and compared using 2-alternative forced choice and intensity ratings.
Note: A significant proportion of subjects rated the quinine bitterness, sucrose sweetness, and glutamate umami on the non-treated side as stronger. There was no difference between the two sides for saltiness or sourness. After a 15-minute break (allowing the capsaicin burn to disappear and desensitization to occur), the difference between the two sides disappeared.
Show data
compound-capsaicin —can_decrease→ sensation-bitterScope: Layer: solution. Experiment 2, in which pairs of stimuli were presented 2 cm apart on either side of the tongue tip, and perceptual similarity/dissimilarity was rated directly.
Note: The authors discuss the possibility that bitterness and burning are qualitatively similar despite being conveyed by different sensory pathways because they reflect a shared function of signaling potentially harmful stimuli (this is an interpretive passage, not the experimental result itself).
Show data
compound-capsaicin —is_not_perceptually_interchangeable_with→ "Sweet, sour, and salty stimuli (in multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, capsaicin fell into a separate cluster from these)"Scope: Layer: solution. Experiment 2, in which pairs of stimuli were presented 2 cm apart on either side of the tongue tip, and perceptual similarity/dissimilarity was rated directly.
Show data
compound-capsaicin —is_correlated_with→ compound-quinineScope: Layer: Literature. A review on the interaction of pungent stimuli and basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami).
Show data
compound-capsaicin —has_perceived_bitterness_affected_by→ sensation-bitterScope: Layer: Literature. A review on the interaction of pungent stimuli and basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami).
Show data
compound-capsaicin —can_decrease→ sensation-bitter