| Abstract
| - Multiple bitter receptor sites appear to exist within the hamster gustatory system supporting the data of other investigators on humans, rats and frogs. The sodium salts of four anions, m-nitrobenzene sulfonate (NBSA), picrate, m-nitrobenzoate (NBA) and cholate, were tested in two-bottle preference tests and for generalization to a variety of stimuli in a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm. All four of these anions are bitter to humans. One, NBSA, generalized to sucrose suggesting a sweet taste, while the remaining three appear to be bitter with varying degrees of saltiness. The bitterness of these three anions to hamsters appears to be perceptually different from a quinine-type bitterness. Separate bitter receptor sites are indicated for quinine and urea, plus a third site accepting NBA, picrate and cholate. More bitter sites are plausible. Separate sites for quinine and urea appear to occur across species. It was also concluded that quinine does not serve as a prototypic bitter stimulus for all bitters in the CTA test.
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