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Look up pungency in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Pungency is a sharp and biting sensory impression. Foods that cause this sensation are often called "hot" or "spicy".
Pungency is not considered a taste in the technical sense, because it is carried to the brain by a different set of nerves. While taste nerves are activated when consuming foods like chili peppers, the sensation commonly interpreted as "hot" results from the stimulation of somatosensory fibers in the mouth. Many parts of the body with exposed membranes that lack taste receptors (such as the nasal cavity, under the fingernails, or a wound) produce a similar sensation of heat when exposed to pungent agents.
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Mechanism
Substances such as ethanol and capsaicin cause a burning sensation by inducing a trigeminal nerve reaction together with normal taste reception. The pungent feeling caused by allyl isothiocyanate, capsaicin, piperine, and allicin is caused by activation of the heat thermo- and chemosensitive TRP ion channels including TRPV1 and TRPA1 nociceptors.
The pungency of chilies may be an adaptive response to selection by microbial pathogens.[1]
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