Subject: Re: miracle fruit

From: [email-masked] (Glutenous Maximus)
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 17:25:22 GMT

Ray Bruman wrote:
                  [.................]
>artichokes.  After a bite of artichoke, neutral
>things like water will taste slightly sweeter.

Not just neutral things.  Artichokes have a chemical in them called
cynarin which affects your tastebuds.  I once made a meal of two or
three artichokes and then opened a beer - I hadn't heard of cynarin
or its effects at that time, so I thought I was hallucinating when
the beer tasted like the sweetest, most delectable thing ever to
pass my lips.  I've since then not only learned about cynarin's
existence but I've even discovered that Italian liqueur called Cynar,
and yes - it's made from artichokes.  It's one of the nastier drinks
you can (arti)choke down, but it does have the expected (if subtle)
effect on your sense of taste.  I keep a bottle around primarily for
the novelty value - it's not something I look forward to drinking on
a regular basis since it's quite bitter, like a European digestif.

Regards,
 ---------------------------------
 Michael O'Donnell     [email-masked]            Copyright (c) 1996
 ---------------------------------

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From: [email-masked] (Shankar Bhattacharyya)
Date: 28 Aug 1996 21:08:57 -0400

In article <[email-masked]>,

>cynarin which affects your tastebuds.

There are other things which do that. Fennel and anise have the effect
to some extent, as do liqueurs with related extracts in them. Pernod
does that. To some extent retsina does that, too. In India we have a
fruit called the awla (amloki, for my fellow Bengalis), which has the
effect.

I have no idea if the chemistry is related in any way, except that
Pernod and retsina, like anise and fennel, have essential oils that
are dominated by small terpene molecules. Probably not, though,
otherwise all sorts of citrus and mint and pine type stuff would ahve
the effect as well.

I'm not familiar with cynarin, not that that means anything. However,
do you perhaps mean cymarin? Cymarin is likely to be a quite toxic
substance. If I remember, cymarin is a glycoside of a distinctly toxic
steroid with cymarose, a deoxy sugar. I have no idea why I remember
that or, for that matter, where I came across that bit of trivia.
Something to do with cardiac glycosides, I expect. There are some
strange ones.

I wonder if there is any relationship, anyway.

- Shankar

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From: [email-masked] (John A. Jesberger)
Date: 29 Aug 1996 21:26:06 GMT

A local french restaurant used to serve as small (melon ball
sized) serving of a lime-cynar sorbet as a pallet cleanser

It really fit the bill, now I know why.
-- 
John A. Jesberger,  Basic and Clinical Neuroscience
5545 Hanna Pavilion, University Hospitals of Cleveland
PH: (216) 844-1228  FAX: (216) 844-7484
e-mail: [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Ellen Smith)
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 21:14:15 GMT

[email-masked] (John A. Jesberger) wrote:

Ok. I'll bite. .....Why?