Chemoinformatics View on Bitter Taste Receptor Agonists in Food

Food compounds with a bitter taste have a role in human health, both for their capability to influence food choice and preferences and for their possible systemic effect due to the modulation of extra-oral bitter taste receptors (TAS2Rs). Investigating the interaction of bitter food compounds with TAS2Rs is a key step to unravel their complex effects on health and to pave the way to rationally design new additives for food formulation or drugs. Here, we propose a collection of food bitter compounds, for which in vitro activity data against TAS2Rs are available. The patterns of TAS2R subtype-specific agonists were analyzed using scaffold decomposition and chemical space analysis, providing a detailed characterization of the associations between food bitter tastants and TAS2Rs.

Automated summary

Bitter food compounds play a role in human health by influencing food choices and preferences, as well as potentially impacting the body through modulation of bitter taste receptors. Investigating the interaction of these compounds with taste receptors is crucial for understanding their effects on health and developing new additives or drugs. Analysis of the patterns of bitter tastants and taste receptors provides insight into the associations between food compounds and health effects.