fusso - 28-2-2019 at 14:29
Picric acid is acidic but tastes bitter.
Is there an opposite substance, which is basic but tastes sour?
clearly_not_atara - 28-2-2019 at 16:05
Unlikely. The bitter receptor is better understood as the bitter receptors. There are scores of compounds of varying structures that
bind to it. Alkali is just one of those. The sour receptor by contrast is generally specific to protons.
This is probably because, historically, basic foods were not very common, and acidic foods are. Excessively alkaline solutions (pH > 10) will cause
tissue damage and pain quite quickly, whereas acid is tolerated to pH 2, i.e. the maximum H3O+ concentration tolerated is 100 times the maximum OH-
concentration, and you'll notice that sourness only kicks in around pH 5 anyway.
Jackson - 28-2-2019 at 20:49
Could a compound that has both acidic and basic parts, but that is overall a base be sour?