PHGY 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Membrane Potential, Umami, Taste Bud
31 Jan 2013
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It is likely that we can recognize only a few basic tastes. First, each food activates a different combination of the basic tastes. Second, most foods have a distinctive flavour as a result of their taste and smell occurring simultaneously. Third, other sensory modalities contribute to a unique food-tasting experience (e. g. texture, temperature, and pain sensations) Although we taste with our tongue, there are other areas of the mouth (e. g. palate, pharynx, and epiglottis) that are also involved. Odours from the food pass, via the pharynx, into the nasal cavity, where they can be detected by olfactory receptors. The tip of the tongue is most sensitive to sweetness, the back to bitterness and the sides to saltiness and sourness. However, most of the tongue is sensitive to all basic tastes. The surface of the tongue is scattered with small projections called papillae. Each papilla has from one to several hundred taste buds (see fig.
