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【bio-news】给不爱吃菜的你找个借口－－－Dista
Raw veg study sheds light on bitter taste sensations.
In the name of science (and for a small fee), 35 brave individuals volunteered to take part in an extensive taste test of raw broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and 25 other bitter vegetables. The results help to explain why some people have a natural aversion to these veggies.
以科学的名义（也为了“酬金”。。。），35位勇敢的志愿者参加了一项品尝生椰菜、花椰菜、芽甘蓝以及另外25种苦味蔬菜的研究中。研究的结果将有助于解释为什么有的人天生就不喜欢这类蔬菜。
Researchers previously knew that the tongue carries a receptor called TAS2R, which comes in several different forms. Only those people carrying a 'sensitive' form of this receptor have been found to be able to taste bitter chemicals such as phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), and researchers had suspected that these same people may be turned off vegetables that contain chemically similar compounds called glucosinolates.
早前研究者已经知道舌头上有一种受体：TAS2R，这种受体有很多种不同的形态。只有那些具有“敏感型”受体的人才能分辨出类似PTC的苦味物质，于是研究者怀疑这就是为什么这类人对含有与硫代葡萄糖酸盐类似化合物的蔬菜“不感冒”的原因。
But this conclusion was uncertain: in vegetables, the taste of these compounds may be masked by other chemicals.
但是这个结论没有被确认，因为在蔬菜中，这些化合物的味道可能被其他物质掩饰。
Mari Sandell and Paul Breslin of Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, wanted to test the theory. They gave the willing victims 17 raw vegetables known to be rich in glucosinolates — a shopping list that includes some vegetables that have nauseated generations of school kids, such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, radish and turnips.
宾西法尼牙州费城Monell医学视野中心的MariSandell和PaulBreslin计划研究这种理论。他们提供志愿者17种已知的富含硫代葡萄糖酸盐的蔬菜，这个采购清单包括了上学的孩子最深恶痛绝的那些蔬菜，比如：椰菜、花椰菜、芽甘蓝、萝卜和芜菁。
The volunteers also swallowed 11 vegetables that are bitter but lack glucosinolates, including aubergine, bitter melon and spinach.
志愿者还同时强咽下11种有点苦但不含硫代葡萄糖酸盐的蔬菜，包括：茄子、苦瓜和菠菜。
The veggies were served raw because cooking can alter their taste. Each person chewed the vegetable ten times to the tick of a metronome; then they spat and cleaned their mouth with water and crackers.
这些“素食”都是生的，因为煮菜会改变他们的味道。每个志愿者都随着节拍器的节奏先咀嚼蔬菜10次，然后就疯狂的一口咽下去。
Genes for greens
Swabs were also taken of the volunteers' cheek cells so that researchers could determine whether they carried none, one, or two 'sensitive' copies of the taste receptor gene that allows taste of PTC.
研究者再用棉签刮取志愿者口腔的细胞，这样他们就能确定志愿者是否含有或者是否含有多个争对PTC的“敏感型”受体基因。
People carrying two 'sensitive' copies of the gene rated the glucosinolate-carrying vegetables as around 60% more bitter than the group carrying two 'insensitive' copies of the gene. The two groups ranked the vegetables lacking glucosinolates as equally bitter. The results are reported in Current Biology1.
与携带两个 “不敏感型”基因的这组人比起来，携带两个“敏感型”基因的小组觉得含有硫代葡萄糖酸盐的蔬菜比较苦的要多60%。而两组觉得不含有硫代葡萄糖酸盐的蔬菜几乎是一样苦的。研究结果在《当代生物》上报道。
The findings support the idea that a person's genes (and particularly this gene) help to explain whether they nudge some vegetables to the side of their plate, or gobble them up.
研究结果证明了通过研究人的基因组（特别是“敏感型”受体基因），能够帮助我们解释为什么同样的蔬菜，有的人狼吞虎咽而有的人却敬而远之。
Bitter pill
Our ability to taste bitter compounds is of particular interest to some researchers because such chemicals are often medicinally active — for better or for worse. Researchers have wondered whether being able to taste certain chemicals puts us at an evolutionary advantage.
一些研究人员对人类能品尝出苦味化合物的能力非常感兴趣，因为这些化合物或多或少的作为药物使用。研究人员怀疑是否能够尝出特定的化学物质是人类的一种优势进化。
Glucosinolates can interfere with uptake of iodine by the thyroid, for example. Iodine, found in some salts and seafood, is essential for the synthesis of thyroid hormones, which in turn can affect mental and reproductive growth or development. According to one long-standing hypothesis, in geographic regions where iodine is naturally low, those carrying the 'sensitive' form of the taste receptor may be at an advantage; avoiding foods containing glucosinolates would allow their thyroids to be healthier.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-02-06 05:14
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