I've seen plenty of speculation online, but does anyone know of a scientific study or have a definitive argument?
I'm thinking probably not sweet, because the deoxyribose sugar is bound in the structure of the helix. Salty, due to group I counterions? Bitter due to the alkaline phosphate groups? I'm guessing not sour, because despite the name nucleic acids are in their conjugate base form at physiological pH. I've read some nucleotides can activate the umami/savory taste, would this be significant?
I am aware essentially everything we eat contains DNA, but I'm interested in the taste of DNA itself, pure/isolated if necessary you like.