TASTELigia Carabarin

Caroline LuksomboonKatrina Trujillo

What is TASTE?

• Taste is the ability to respond to dissolved molecules and ions called tastants.

• Taste is a chemical sense perceived by specialized receptor cells that make up taste buds.

• In humans, the chemoreceptors that detect taste are called gustatory receptor cells.

How does your sense of taste work?

• The chemical substance responsible for the taste is freed in the mouth and comes into contact with a nerve cell.

• This change causes the sensory cell to transmit messenger substances, which in turn activate further nerve cells.

• Theses nerve cells then pass information from a particular perception of flavor on to the brain

Tongue Map

• The tongue map breaks the tongue down into regions of sensation—Bitter in the back, sour on the sides, salty on the front edge, and sweet at the tip.

Taste Buds

• The numerous wart-like bumps on the mucous membrane of the tongue are where the substance producing the taste is transformed into a nerve signal.

• These bumps are called taste papillae. • They contain many sensory cells with a special

structure.

What are Taste Buds?

• Taste buds are the true taste organ. They have numerous sensory cells that are in turn connected to many different nerve fibers.

• Each taste bud has between 10 and 50 sensory cells. These cells form a capsule that is shaped like a flower bud or and orange.

• Adults have between 2,000 and 4,000 taste buds in total. The sensory cells in the taste buds are renewed once a week.

• Most of the taste buds are on the tongue. • BUT there are also cells that detect taste

elsewhere inside the oral cavity:- Roof of your mouth - Throat - Esophagus

The Primary Tastes

• Sweet foods usually had calories. • Salty foods had important vitamins and

minerals.• Sour foods could be healthy like oranges or

spoiled like rotten milk.• Bitter taste were often poisonous • Umami has only just entered the food cannon .– It is a flavor enhancer used in many processed

foods and in Asian dishes.

FUN FACTS!

• Taste buds only live 10-14 days, they constantly regenerate.

• As we age the number of taste receptors on our tongue quickly decline.

• Try holding your nose the next time you eat something. You’ll notice that your taste buds are able to tell your brains something about what you’re eating- that its sweet for instance but you wont be able to pick the exact flavor until you let go of your nose.