"Adding salt to the cup of coffee" is the latest trend in social media. And many enjoyed the experience

Most people, if they want to add anything to their coffee, probably want to opt for sugar, cream, or perhaps other sweetened additives.

But the recent "hack" on social media suggests adding a small pinch of salt, rather than a spoonful of sugar, to your morning drink cup. This trick seems to remove some bitterness and bring out other flavors that might otherwise be lost.

If the idea seems strange to you, make sure that it is not as much as you think, as many have tried the proposal or idea as they said and enjoyed the experience. There is even a scientific basis for this type of coffee known for decades: sodium chloride is very effective in suppressing bitterness in coffee and all types of food.

Scientists attributed the ability of sodium chloride - regular table salt - to suppress bitterness to the popularity of salt as a cooking ingredient around the world, throughout human history. By crushing the bitterness, the salt allows other flavors, such as sweetness, to truly shine and shine.

The tongue map theory of human taste has long been debunked, but there are different receptors that are sensitive to certain types of flavors. The salt receptor is known as the sodium epithelial channel or ENaC. Bitter taste receptors belong to a family known as TAS2Rs.
Research published in 1995 showed that salt is effective in hiding the gallbladder. When scientists mixed the sweet and bitter compounds, the addition of salt made the mixture sweeter and less bitter. But the repression did not go in both directions; bitter compounds did not suppress the flavor of salt.

It's still not entirely clear how inhibition works, but research in mice in 2013 found that while ENaC tastes low levels of sodium chloride, in high concentrations, salt stimulates sour and bitter receptors as well. This is because this combination is thought to be an unpleasant taste, and consuming too much salt at once is extremely dangerous.

The bitterness of the coffee appears when roasted in preparation for brewing. This process forms compounds called chlorogenic acid lactones and, in dark roasting, phenylindanos, which are produced by the breakdown of chlorogenic acid.

Places around the world where salt is commonly added to coffee to enhance its taste include Vietnam, where salty coffee is enhanced with condensed milk to get a delicious caramel-like drink. The Swedish Arctic coffee tradition adds some salted meat or cheese. Even U.S. Navy personnel used to drink coffee with salt during and after World War II because desalination equipment was not entirely effective.

So if you don't like your sweet or milky coffee, Science Alert says, it might be worth trying a little salt. Since not everyone tastes the same, you may want to experiment.