Scientists find the most bitter tasting thing ever

What kind of face do you make when you taste something very bitter?

Food scientists have discovered a chemical in a particular kind of mushroom found in the UK and Ireland which they say is the most bitter substance known to mankind.

Bitter bracket mushrooms, also known as Postia stiptica, are commonly found in central and northern Europe.

This research can help us better understand how the tongue helps us perceive taste.

As part of the research experts at the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology in Germany extracted three compounds from Amaropostia stiptica mushroom, and examined their chemical structures.

A lot of research has already been done into how flowering plants can have a bitter taste, but less studies have been done looking at fungi - like mushrooms.

This discovery can help them to research how humans evolved to be able to detect bitter tastes and why.

This is interesting because not all bitter compounds taste bitter, and not all that taste bitter are toxic or harmful.

Some mushrooms are poisonous though so always check before eating any you find in nature.

While to us it might seem strange that some mushrooms that taste extremely bitter aren't poisonous and are perfectly edible, while others that are deadly poisonous taste rather pleasant and nutty.

But one thing we have to remember is that humans are not the only creatures to eat mushrooms - other animals and insects do too, and their receptors may be better adapted to distinguish toxic (poisonous) from non-toxic mushrooms.

Scientists have found it interesting that the bitter taste from some mushrooms doesn't always indicate that they are poisonous or not good to eat

Previous studies have indicated that sensors for bitter substances are not only found in the mouth but also in the stomach, intestines, heart and lungs.

Since these organs are not involved in helping us "taste", why we have sensors in these areas has remained a mystery.

By using lab-grown cell models, the researchers in this case showed that the chemicals found in the mushroom were involved in activating at least one of the approximately 25 human bitter taste sensor types in the body.