Specific adsorption of bitter substances on lipid bilayer-coated piezoelectric crystals

Abstract

The adsorption of various bitter substances on a lipid bilayer matrix was detected by observing the frequency change of a synthetic bilayer-coated piezoelectric crystal; there was a good correlation between the partition coefficient of the bitter material (between the aqueous phase and the synthetic lipid bilayer film on the crystal) and the bitter taste threshold concentration in the biological cell.