Taste Receptors and Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory of Five Flavors： A Review
10.13422/j.cnki.syfjx.20241838
- VernacularTitle:味觉受体与中药五味理论的现代研究进展
- Author:
Xiaoxiao XU
1
;
Hongjie BAI
1
;
Yu BI
1
;
Zhenni QU
2
;
Dianhua SHI
2
;
Yanpeng DAI
2
Author Information
1. Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine， Jinan 250355， China
2. Shandong Academy of Chinese Medicine， Jinan 250014， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
taste receptors;
signaling mechanism;
five flavors of traditional Chinese medicine;
disease;
correlation
- From:
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae
2025;31(12):322-330
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Taste is a sensation produced by the reaction of substances in the mouth with taste receptor cells， and a normal taste function is essential for our daily life and health. As receivers of taste molecules， taste receptors include sour， bitter， sweet， salty， and umami receptors， which are mainly distributed in the oral cavity， gastrointestinal tract， respiratory tract epithelium and other organs and play a physiological role. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has five flavors （sour， bitter， sweet， pungent， and salty）， which are closely related to the efficacy. Except the pungent flavor and umami taste receptors， the other five taste receptors correspond to the five flavors in the TCM theory， while the correlations between them have not been studied， such as those between bitter receptors and bitter TCM and between sweet receptors and sweet TCM. This article reviews the research reports on taste receptors in recent years. By analyzing the relationships of taste receptors with five flavors of TCM， signaling mechanisms， and diseases based on "receptor-TCM" correlations， this article puts forward the possibility of combining the TCM theory of five flavors with modern biomedical research， providing a reference for the research on "flavors" in TCM and the correlations between TCM and taste receptors.
