Sounds like the heroin of sour. I need a hit.
Comment on What are some actual good *sour* sour candy?
Uranium_Green@sh.itjust.works 1 week agoGet some malic acid if you want it to be a different type of sour, or tartaric acid if you want it to be more tart.
Oh actually other suggestions; but some N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine (Often called NALT), it’s incredibly sour and slightly sweet, once again different from from the fruit acids (malic, citric, tartaric). NALT is a precursor to Tyrosine an amino acid. You need only the tiniest amount on the tongue to get the affect. The sourness is from the acetyl group, and I think the slight sweetness is from the tyrosine/or the complete structure, as related compounds are used as artificial sweeteners.
NineMileTower@lemmy.world 1 week ago
jxk@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Just to be pedantic, the acidity doesn’t come from the acetyl group - - it comes from the tyrosine, an amino acid.
Uranium_Green@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Hmm, that’s interesting but IIRC Tyrosine itself isn’t all that sour when tasted, nor are really any other amino acids I can think of aside from possibly Taurine, I assumed it was a small amount of hydrolysis of the acetyl group was occurring to enable the taste difference, but if you’ve got some more context I’d love to hear it
jxk@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
The acetyl group (-COCH₃) is not acidic itself. The amino acid has both an acidic -COOH group and a basic primary amine (-NH₂) group, but in the compound the primary amine becomes a secondary amine (-NH-), who basicity will depend on surrounding atoms. (If you look at a structural diagram of the compound, the only hydrogen atom it can realistically lose to have acidity is on the -COOH.)