ELi5: How is it that the bitter-tasting substances produced by plants in order not to be eaten are loved by human?
In: Biology
Because many defense mechanisms and other features did not come to be in order to ward off humans. In fact many features of fruits and vegetables are to intentionally attract animals to eat them to spread seeds. Also, if something tastes bad to humans, it doesn’t mean it tastes bad to all animals. Pumkins and other squash for instance evolved to be eaten by mega fauna like Wooly Mammoths. [I believe elephants still really love pumpkins!](https://youtu.be/psxIrjt5SX4) But we don’t like to eat them raw.
Then when humans found certain plants palatable and with the invention of farming, humans cultivated those plants, spread them far and wide, and even selected over time for specific features that we liked. The goal of life is too survive and reproduce, so these plants have become extremely successful since humans have grown and reproduced so many more of them than would occur in the wild. You could say they really won at evolution.
Bitter substances can help aid digestion by stimulating production of stomach acids. In Europe, there are a whole slew of bitter beverages to aid digestion. Italians call them “digestivi” Fernet Branca is a popular example.
Other bitter substances (like salicylic acid from the willow tree) prevent inflammation in people and aid with pain management – salicylic acid is the precursor to aspirin.
So, tl;dr bitter substances have been found useful to humans so have been widely adopted.
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