saltiness
sensation / sensation-salty
塩味
Saltiness is another basic taste that can change the shape of bitterness. But the ability of sodium salts to suppress bitterness is not identical to the intensity of saltiness perceived in the mouth.
On this page (7 sections)
Reading the bitterness
Saltiness is a basic taste that can change the character of bitterness. A human sensory study of Brussels sprouts and cauliflower reports that participants who rated the unsalted vegetables more bitter tended to show a greater reduction in bitterness ratings when salt was added. Those with low initial bitterness ratings showed almost no reduction. The original full text has not been obtained; this account relies on the abstract and a secondary summary.
A separate review says sodium chloride, sodium acetate, and sodium gluconate reduced urea bitterness to comparable degrees despite differing in perceived saltiness. The review interprets this as sodium ions mainly reducing urea bitterness, allowing sweetness to be perceived more strongly; this illustrates that saltiness intensity is not proportional to bitterness suppression. The description comes from an earlier study cited by the review, and no numerical value is given for 『同程度』 (in translation: "comparable degrees").
The same review describes cell-level findings in which, at low sodium concentrations of 10 mM or less (0.058% sodium chloride), sodium stimulates the saltiness receptor while suppressing the activity of the bitter taste receptor TAS2R16 and enhancing signaling by the sweetness receptors T1R2/T1R3. At concentrations above 300 mM (1.74%), it instead stimulates bitter taste receptors and others, producing unpleasant bitter and sour sensations; the direction depends on concentration. This receptor-level account derives from earlier studies cited by the review, without a precise mapping to human sensory thresholds.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: The finding that greater initial bitterness without added salt was associated with a greater salt-induced reduction.
Checked for this overview: The description that three sodium salts with different perceived saltiness reduced urea bitterness to comparable degrees. / The contrast in bitter- and sweet-receptor effects at different sodium concentrations.
Follow the connections
saltiness →can reduce the perceived bi…→ bitterness →can be measured separately …→ astringency
saltiness →reduces→ TAS2R16
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Sensory (2)
Scope: Layer: food. Human sensory evaluation using actual vegetables (Brussels sprouts, cauliflower).
Show data
sensation-salty —can_reduce_perceived_bitterness_of→ sensation-bitterScope: Layer: literature (a description in a review).
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sensation-salty —can_reduce_perceived_bitterness_of→ sensation-bitterMechanism and receptors (1)
Scope: Layer: cell (receptor level). Literature (a description from a review).
Show data
sensation-salty —reduces→ receptor-tas2r16