rganautaTaste: the tongue in 3D
Taste happens when substances dissolved in saliva activate the receptor cells of the taste buds, mostly on the tongue, but also on the palate and in the…
Explained for every age
For kids (7–11)
Taste is the sense that tells you if something is sweet, salty, sour, bitter or savory like a broth. You feel it with your tongue, which is covered in tiny bumps. But here's a secret: almost all the flavor of food also comes from your nose. That's why, when you have a cold, food seems to taste like nothing.
For teens (12–16)
Taste happens when substances dissolved in saliva activate the receptor cells of the taste buds, mostly on the tongue, but also on the palate and in the throat. It tells apart five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. What we call the "flavor" of a food is more than that: it mixes taste with smell, texture, temperature and sensations like the burn of chili or the coolness of mint. That's why, when your nose is blocked, it's hard to tell an apple from a pear.
Pre-Med (17+)
Gustatory system: chemoreception by receptor cells grouped in taste buds (each with about 50–100 cells) on the tongue, soft palate, pharynx, epiglottis and upper esophagus. Five accepted qualities: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami; other candidates are debated, such as fat (CD36, GPR120) or kokumi. The information travels along cranial nerves VII, IX and X to the nucleus of the solitary tract, the thalamus and the gustatory cortex (anterior insula and frontal operculum). "Flavor" integrates taste, retronasal smell and trigeminal stimuli (texture, temperature, chemesthesis via TRPV1, TRPA1 or TRPM8). Clinically, true loss of taste (ageusia) is rare: most people who seek care for "not tasting anything" actually have a smell disorder.
What you can explore
Taste budFungiform papillaCircumvallate papillaFiliform papillaFive basic tastesGustatory pathway
Missions
- Flavor detective Explorer
- Papillae, tastes and a myth Discoverer
- Transduction and the gustatory pathway Pre-Med