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Bitterness, as one of the most important physiological sensations in animals, is primarily recognized through the mediation of bitter taste receptors. In recent years, it has been found that these receptors are not only expressed in taste bud cells on the tongue but also in the respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, reproductive, and nervous systems. They are involved in regulating various fundamental physiological processes and are now considered important targets for the treatment of various diseases. This paper reviewed the structure, classification, distribution, and signaling pathways of bitter taste receptors, their relationship with different diseases, and the role of bitter taste receptors agonists, aiming to provide a basis for scientific research on bitter taste receptors.

This research is to establish an HPLC method for determination of geniposidic acid, genipin-1-β-D-gentiobioside, geniposide, p-trans-coumaroylgenipin gentiobioside, chlorogenic acid, crocin-Ⅰ, crocin-Ⅱ and crocin-Ⅲ in Gardeniae Fructus at different harvest time. The detection wavelength was 238, 320 and 440 nm. Principal component analysis(PCA), correlation analysis, regression analysis and partial least squares(PLS) analysis were used to explore the relationship of color and content of eight components in Gardeniae Fructus. The result showed that the trend of the eight components in Gardeniae Fructus at harvest time in different three years was varied similarly. According to the variation of eight components at different harvest time, the mature and immaturate Gardeniae Fructus were discriminated. The content of crocin-Ⅰwas correlated positively with a~* of color significance. The redder color of Gardeniae Fructus showed the higher value of a~* and content of crocin-Ⅰ, indicating the better quality of Gardeniae Fructus. This method provided reference for justifying the color and quality of Gardeniae Fructus and scientific evidence for "assessing quality by distinguishing color".

To set standards for histomorphological studies on Lysimachia fortunei, an efficacious and widely applied folk medicine in this study, in order to develop its resources. Its species were identified by observing plant morphology and herbs appearance characters, preparing slices with routine methods and defining structural characters. According to the results of morphologic observation, leaves, stamen and pistil of this plant were different from the descriptions in Flora of China. The whole herb can be used in medicines, mainly including rhizomes, stems and leaves. According to the findings in the first study on microscopic structures, its rhizomes, stems and leaves were characteristic and worth identifying. The transaction tissue structures of rhizomes and stems were under developed and contained endodermis, secretory structures; Stems had sclerenchymata of different shapes of sclereids; Leaves were bifacial and had vascular bundles under midribs, which were surrounded by parenchymal sheathes. On the surface of leaves, stomata, glandular hairs and keratin lines were morphologically different in upper and lower epidermis. The herbal power had glandular hairs, sclereids and vessels. In conclusion, herbs of L. fortunei can be identified by the above histomorphological characteristics, which lays a foundation for further development and application of L. fortunei.