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Review
. 2017:2017:5435831.
doi: 10.1155/2017/5435831. Epub 2017 May 31.

Extraoral Taste Receptor Discovery: New Light on Ayurvedic Pharmacology

Marilena Gilca  1 , Dorin Dragos  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Extraoral Taste Receptor Discovery: New Light on Ayurvedic Pharmacology

Marilena Gilca et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017.

Abstract

More and more research studies are revealing unexpectedly important roles of taste for health and pathogenesis of various diseases. Only recently it has been shown that taste receptors have many extraoral locations (e.g., stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, respiratory system, heart, brain, kidney, urinary bladder, pancreas, adipose tissue, testis, and ovary), being part of a large diffuse chemosensory system. The functional implications of these taste receptors widely dispersed in various organs or tissues shed a new light on several concepts used in ayurvedic pharmacology (dravyaguna vijnana), such as taste (rasa), postdigestive effect (vipaka), qualities (guna), and energetic nature (virya). This review summarizes the significance of extraoral taste receptors and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels for ayurvedic pharmacology, as well as the biological activities of various types of phytochemical tastants from an ayurvedic perspective. The relative importance of taste (rasa), postdigestive effect (vipaka), and energetic nature (virya) as ethnopharmacological descriptors within Ayurveda boundaries will also be discussed.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potential physiological roles of extraoral taste receptors or other chemosensory processors (A−: anion, AC: adenylate cyclase, ENaC: epithelial Na+ channel, PLC: phospholipase C, TRP: transient receptor potential channel, TRPV: TRP vanilloid type, TRPA: TRP ankyrin type, TR: taste receptor).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Complex meaning of rasa (TC: taste receptor cell, TR: taste receptor, n.V: trigeminal nerve, n. VII: facial nerve/chorda tympani branch, n IX: glossopharyngeal nerve/lingual branch, r-NTS: rostral division of the nucleus tractus solitarius).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Rasa (taste) versus vipaka (taste after digestion) (TRC: taste receptor cells, TR: taste receptor).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Interferences of sweet taste and sweet taste receptor with tissue (dhatu) generation cycle (in Ayurveda the tissues are generated in a successive order: rasa, rakta, mamsa, meda, asthi, majja, and shukra.).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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