Food Chemistry 21 (1986) 259-281 Recent Insights into the Mechanisms of Taste Transduction and Modulation* Susan S. Schiffman Department of Psychiatry, Duke Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA (Received: 21 February, 1986) ABSTRACT An amiloride-sensitive transport system is involved in the taste perception of sodium and lithium salts, as well as sweeteners. Taste can be modulated by purinergic compounds such as inosine monophosphate (IMP), as well as antagonists of adenosine, specifically, methyl xanthines. Kainic acid selectively reduced the taste responses to glutamic acid which suggests that the taste of glutamate is not mediated by the identical receptor population as the so-called 'primary tastes'. INTRODUCTION In the past several years, new insights into the mechanisms of taste transduction and modulation have been achieved by observing the psychophysical and neurophysiological changes that occur after applica- tion of pharmacological agents to the surface of the tongue. In this paper, the effects of four compounds on the taste system are discussed; they are amiloride, caffeine (and other methyl xanthines), inosine monophosphate and kainic acid. *This paper was supported by a grant fom the National Institute on Aging, NIA AG00443. Paper presented at the symposium 'The Chemical Basis of Sensory Perception of Foods' held by the Royal Society of Chemistry on 18 October, 1985. at Savile Row, London, Great Britain. 259 Food Chemistry 0308-8146/86/$03'50 © Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1986. Printed in Great Britain