A bittering agent is a

flavoring agent A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gustat ...

added to a food or beverage to impart a

bitter taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

, possibly in addition to other effects. While many substances are bitter to a greater or lesser degree, a few substances are used specifically for their bitterness, especially to balance other flavors, such as sweetness. Notable beverage examples include

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...

, found naturally in

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and added to many

soft drinks A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a s ...

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

, and

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

tonic water Tonic water (or Indian tonic water) is a carbonated soft drink in which quinine is dissolved. Originally used as a prophylactic against malaria, tonic water usually has a significantly lower quinine content and is consumed for its distinctive b ...

. Food examples include

bitter melon ''Momordica charantia'' (commonly called bitter melon; Goya; bitter apple; bitter gourd; bitter squash; balsam-pear; with many more names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Afri ...

, which may be mixed into a stir fry or soup for its bitter flavor. Potent bittering agents may also be added to dangerous products as

aversive agent Aversive agents are unpleasantly flavored substances added to poisonous household goods to discourage children and animals from consuming them. Aversive agents are not intended to be harmful, only unpleasant. For example, to prevent children from co ...

s to make them foul tasting, so as to prevent accidental poisoning. Examples including anti-freeze, household cleaning products and pesticides such as slug pellets. In general dangerous products with bright colours, which may be appealing to children, often contain agents such as

denatonium Denatonium, usually available as denatonium benzoate (under trade names such as Denatrol, BITTERANT-b, BITTER+PLUS, ''Bitrex'', and ''Aversion'') and as denatonium saccharide (BITTERANT-s), is the most bitter chemical compound known, with bitterne ...

. However, the efficacy of using bittering agents for this purpose is not conclusive.

Beer

Prior to the introduction of hops, many other bitter herbs and flowers were used as bittering agents in beer, in a mixture called

gruit Gruit (alternately grut or gruyt) is a herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. The terms gruit and grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit. Historically, gruit is the te ...

, which could include

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

burdock root ''Arctium'' is a genus of biennial plants commonly known as burdock, family Asteraceae. Native to Europe and Asia, several species have been widely introduced worldwide. Burdock's clinging properties, in addition to providing an excellent mech ...

, marigold, horehound (the German name for horehound means "mountain hops"),

ground ivy ''Glechoma hederacea'' is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground, creeping charlie, alehoof, tunhoof, catsfoot, field balm, and run-away-robin. It is al ...

, and heather. Also

bog myrtle ''Myrica gale'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae, native to parts of Japan, North Korea, Russia, mainland Europe, the British Isles and parts of northern North America, in Canada and the United States. Common names include ...

. More recently, some

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and Okinawan beer uses

as a bittering agent.For example
Goya Dry
b
Helios
brewery of Okinawa

Other substances

Various other substances are used, including: *

Aloin Aloin, also known as barbaloin, is a bitter, yellow-brown colored compound noted in the exudate of at least 68 ''Aloe'' species at levels from 0.1 to 6.6% of leaf dry weight (making between 3% and 35% of the total exudate), and in another 17 spec ...

Gesho ''Rhamnus prinoides'', the shiny-leaf buckthorn, is an African shrub or small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. Commonly referred to as "gesho" it was first scientifically described by French botanist Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789. ...

, used in

Tej Tej (from pronounced ; ; ) is a honey wine, like mead, that is brewed and consumed in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has an alcohol content generally ranging from 7 to 11%. It is often home processed and consists of three main ingredients; honey, wa ...

, Ethiopian honey wine

Other uses

Other prominent uses of bittering agents include: *

Bitters Bitters (plural also ''bitters'') is traditionally an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter for a bitter or bittersweet flavor. Originally, numerous longstanding brands of bitters were developed as patent medicines, but now are ...

– used as digestifs or flavorings * Dandelion and burdock – traditional British soft drink

References

{{reflist Food additives