Bitter taste and food
Bitter foods are foods that - containing one or more bittering factors, in varying concentrations - are clearly perceived on the palate as bitter. The sensory organ appointed to capture the bitter taste (not to the processing, which belongs to the brain) is the language, in particular the back area. Note : tastes are not perceived by the olfactory system, instead responsible for the interpretation of even very complex flavors.
Only a few years ago we began to understand the role of bitter taste and the molecules involved, which seem to exert specific nutritional and digestive functions.
What are they?
What are bitter foods?
Bitter foods are mainly plant-based, but not only; also the animal kingdom offers different products characterized by a bitter taste. We proceed with order.
Bitter foods of vegetable origin
- Vegetables or vegetables: Cichorium (Chicory genus), including white radicchio, red radicchio, cut chicory, ribbed chicory, wild chicory, endive and Belgian witloof; rocket, some Brassica (genus of cabbage), artichoke leaves, dandelion etc.
- Sweet fruit: juice and rind (especially the albedo, or the white part) of grapefruit (yellow and pink), juice and bark of bergamot, juice and bitter orange peel, juice and rind of chinotto, rind of all other citrus fruits (lemon, oranges, limes, mandarins, mandarin oranges etc).
- Starchy seeds: cereals such as millet and sorghum, and pseudocereals such as amaranth.
- Aromatic herbs and spices: cloves, artemisie, thyme, marjoram, lovage, rosemary, tarragon, bay leaves and berries, juniper berries, myrtle berries, sorrel, sage, rue, licorice, bitter fennel, water clover, hyssop, tea, anise etc.
- Most frequently used extracts: china (arboreal plant of the Andes), bitter orange, artichoke, gentian, centaurea, quassio, cardo santo, cascarilla, hops, ginger, wormwood (artemisie) and peel of other citrus fruits.
- Others: black coffee, herbal infusions and extracts already mentioned, cocoa, etc.
Bitter foods of animal origin
- Offal of terrestrial animals: in particular the liver and kidneys. They are perfectly edible
- Offal of aquatic animals: especially the liver. That of fish is eaten in a manner similar to that of terrestrial and volatile creatures. Cuttlefish, instead, fresh, is consumed mainly as a spreadable sauce or as an accompanying sauce (in Italy it is not appreciated)
- Derivatives: the most striking example is the fermented cuttlefish liver sauce (an oriental product not widespread in the West)
- Cheeses and some fermented soy products: the best known are undoubtedly blue-veined cheeses such as gorgonzola and brie.
Other products with a particularly bitter taste are certain drugs and supplements. In particular, referring to free amino acids and methylxanthines, they have a very bitter taste (in decreasing origin): L-Tryptophan (its bitterness is about half compared to caffeine), L-Phenylalanine, L Tyrosine, L-Leucine, creatine, carnitine, caffeine, theobromine etc.
Property
Health properties of bitter foods
Certain bitter foods of plant origin have different health properties. Others, on the other hand, are not edible and can be harmful (see below). The main beneficial characteristics of bitter foods are:
- Eupeptic and aperitif, adequate against the excessive permanence of food in the stomach by hypochloridria: they promote salivary and gastric secretion, facilitating digestion. Note : terpenes of citrus peel exert a mild irritative action on the mucous membranes and are not recommended in case of gastritis
- Carminative, against the swelling of the stomach and intestines: they facilitate the expulsion of excess gases, reducing swelling
- Colagoga and / or choleretica: some bitter foods also have a beneficial effect on the secretion of bile by the liver and on the discharge of the same from the gall bladder to the intestinal lumen
- Hepatic depurative: it is a function limited to very few bitter foods; facilitates the expulsion of harmful molecules and promotes the metabolism of parenchymal cells
- Diuretic: increases renal filtration and urine expulsion
- Anti-inflammatory: certain bitter herbs perform a natural function against inflammation
- They promote sleep: some bitter herbs NOT forbidden promote relaxation and sleep; they are not many and have a subjective effect.
Application of some bitter foods with health properties
- Artemisias: they are very suitable for indigestion and idiopathic dyspepsia
- Holy thistle: it is useful against heartburn, bladder problems and intestinal bloating
- Water clover: against sore throat and stomach cramps
- Ginger: against inappetence and stomach cramps
- Gentian: due to hypochloridria indigestion, swelling and flatulence. Note : the yellow gentian has the highest content of bitter molecules among the plants known today.
- Hops: for bladder and kidney problems, and for sleep disorders
- Lemon balm: for sleep disorders
- Milk thistle and artichoke: strengthen the liver and regularize the irritated stomach
- Centaurea: improves liver disorders, but not as much as the previous two.
More generally:
- Against the bad digestion of the stomach and the intestinal swelling: china, artichoke leaves, gentian, centaurea, quassio, holy thistle, cascarilla, hops, ginger, wormwood, bitter orange and the peel of other citrus fruits. Note : many bitter principles, especially some essential oils, begin their digestive effect from the moment they are perceived at an olfactory level. It is therefore not the bitter taste itself that determines the effect, but the type of molecule that also has this characteristic
- Only against the swelling of the stomach and intestines: cumin, anise and fennel
- Against the poor functionality of the liver and gall bladder: chelisonia, artichoke, milk thistle, boldo, wormwood (artemisie) and dandelion.
Not Edible
Bitter inedible food
Certain seeds are also very bitter, but they are not always considered edible; some of these seem to exert a poisonous effect. Some are:
- Bitter almonds: Prunus dulcis var. bitter . They contain amygdalin, a toxic glucoside because it turns into hydrocyanic acid. They also contain:
- Other seeds, for example apricots, peaches, plums, cherries.
- Citrus fruit seeds
- Apple and pear seeds
- Offal of terrestrial and aquatic animals:
- In fish, the kidneys are placed outside the peritoneum, attached to the spine, and must be carefully removed during fish cleaning to prevent them from leaving a bitter taste
- The same applies to the gall bladder and bile juices, which are also considered a real waste even in the fifth quarter of terrestrial origin
- Some fish, such as the sea bream, if grown in the wild tend to accumulate a good dose of visceral fat; this, of soft consistency, white color and faint smell of raw, dissolved in cooking leaves a fairly perceptible bitter taste.
- Foods contaminated by bacteria, molds and harmful yeasts: the inadequate preservation of certain products leads to the development of pathogenic species that give a strongly bitter taste. A classic example is milk which, if it does not sour, can take on this characteristic.
