This Unassuming Mushroom Packs the Bitterest Taste Ever Measured

Would you eat the forbidden fungi? Scientists have uncovered a mushroom-derived compound that seems to be the most bitter substance known on Earth. Researchers in Germany made the not-so-tasty find in a species of mushroom called Amaropostia stiptica—also aptly known as the bitter bracket fungus. The compound is one of three new bitter molecules discovered by studying the mushroom. The findings may help scientists better understand how animals like us evolved to detect bitterness, among other unanswered questions, the researchers say. Our taste buds can broadly pick out five distinctive types of taste, one of which is bitterness. Scientists have identified around 2,400 different molecules that elicit a bitter taste, with over 800 linked to at least one specific taste receptor. According to the study researchers, however, this list is only a small sample of the many bitter-inducing things truly out there. Most of these compounds identified so far have come from flowering plants or ar ... Read full article.