The Tongue

Modified: 2020-03-18

The tongue (on the diagram 1 = bitter, 2 = sour, 3 = salty, and 4 = sweet) contains receptors called taste buds that transduce chemicals dissolved in saliva into neural impulses. You should realize that taste as described here is not the same as eating. When we eat, we smell, taste, see, and feel our food. Eating is a multisensorial experience. However, here we will consider only the experience of tasting.

Interestingly, some people are much more able to taste bitter sensations. Those who dislike diet soft drinks usually say they do not like them because they leave a bitter aftertaste. Some people are not able to taste that bitter sensation. Also, most poisons are bitter. So, it may make evolutionary sense for people to dislike bitter tastes. In fact, growers have developed strains of celery that are not bitter for that reason, much to the dismay of some gourmands (Raymond Sokolov, for instance).

Umami is a taste sensation first described in the 1980s and is described as "flavorful."

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