Comments on: Nuts sent off http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/80 "truly pathetic verbiage" Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:12:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Peri http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/80/comment-page-1#comment-5324 Peri Sun, 04 Apr 2010 04:32:57 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=80#comment-5324 Hi - your comment about saliva amylase makes a bell go off in my head. I had "pine mounth" this last Christmas here in Australia. Salads are common Christmas fare here, and the weather was stinking hot as usual. I never bothered blogging my experience, once I found out what happened, as I assumed the problem could have been rancidity. But back to your comment. The interesting thing, to me, was was triggerered the taste each time. An empty mouth, with plain saliva, was just fine. Swallowing was fine. It was only when I tried to swallow anything else that the taste flooded into my mouth. Anything else. Water, even. Anything more solid (eg coffee with milk in it) was intolerable. But not my own saliva. Which suggests that that the flavour was the result of the saliva mixing with whatever I was eating. The other interesting thing was that as long as I kept the bolus of food being chewed in the mouth, everything was fine. It was when I tried to swallow that the bitter flavour came. So I suspect that the receptors for the flavour are located on a patch right at the back of the tongue. Now I do know that not everyone has all the same patches of tastebuds - for example lots of people cannot taste Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) - the ability to taste this bitter compound is an hereditary trait. So, I could hypothesise that the reason this whole pine mouth thing is so resistant to being solved is that you have several issues that work together to cloud the issue: only some pine nuts may cause the problem (rancid ones?), maybe not all of us react by producing whatever is in our saliva that reacts with the bolus and maybe only some people can taste the after effects. Hi – your comment about saliva amylase makes a bell go off in my head. I had “pine mounth” this last Christmas here in Australia. Salads are common Christmas fare here, and the weather was stinking hot as usual. I never bothered blogging my experience, once I found out what happened, as I assumed the problem could have been rancidity. But back to your comment. The interesting thing, to me, was was triggerered the taste each time. An empty mouth, with plain saliva, was just fine. Swallowing was fine. It was only when I tried to swallow anything else that the taste flooded into my mouth. Anything else. Water, even. Anything more solid (eg coffee with milk in it) was intolerable. But not my own saliva. Which suggests that that the flavour was the result of the saliva mixing with whatever I was eating. The other interesting thing was that as long as I kept the bolus of food being chewed in the mouth, everything was fine. It was when I tried to swallow that the bitter flavour came. So I suspect that the receptors for the flavour are located on a patch right at the back of the tongue. Now I do know that not everyone has all the same patches of tastebuds – for example lots of people cannot taste Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) – the ability to taste this bitter compound is an hereditary trait. So, I could hypothesise that the reason this whole pine mouth thing is so resistant to being solved is that you have several issues that work together to cloud the issue: only some pine nuts may cause the problem (rancid ones?), maybe not all of us react by producing whatever is in our saliva that reacts with the bolus and maybe only some people can taste the after effects.

]]> By: Becky Webb http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/80/comment-page-1#comment-3823 Becky Webb Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:20:39 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=80#comment-3823 Was wondering if you're still investigating 'Pine Mouth'...? As a fairly long-term resident in China, I've eaten pine nuts for years out here and never had a problem, but this week, having tried baby pine nuts for the first time, Pine Mouth has struck. I am interested in any botanical explanations (and not any typical China-bashing food standards comments as per most other blogs on this subject) as I think you have a unique academic approach to this. Hope to hear more... Was wondering if you’re still investigating ‘Pine Mouth’…? As a fairly long-term resident in China, I’ve eaten pine nuts for years out here and never had a problem, but this week, having tried baby pine nuts for the first time, Pine Mouth has struck. I am interested in any botanical explanations (and not any typical China-bashing food standards comments as per most other blogs on this subject) as I think you have a unique academic approach to this. Hope to hear more…

]]> By: Joe http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/80/comment-page-1#comment-449 Joe Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:03:48 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=80#comment-449 Just stumpled across this blog after trying to figure out what that horible taste is!! Any more progress on the investigations? Just stumpled across this blog after trying to figure out what that horible taste is!!

Any more progress on the investigations?

]]> By: Tim http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/80/comment-page-1#comment-44 Tim Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:44:36 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=80#comment-44 "To anyone else this must be horrendous!" - actually it is quite amusing reading mate! “To anyone else this must be horrendous!” – actually it is quite amusing reading mate!

]]>