The-Biology-Of-Tasting

Taste receptors & olfactory systems

• The flavours that we experience in foods are a result of both our taste receptors and our olfactory receptors in the nose working together

• The feeling of the food in our mouths also contributes towards the flavours that we experience

Receptors on the tongue

• Taste receptors are found on the surface of the tongue

• These receptors can detect:

  • sweet

  • salty

  • sour

  • bitter

  • umami is a fifth taste that has been recently added, it senses a savoury meaty flavour in food

• In the mouth, food dissolves in saliva and enters the receptors

• Tiny hairs inside the receptors send signals to the brain to indicate the specific taste that has been encountered

• Whilst the different receptors are found all over the tongue, there are different regions which are known to be more sensitive to each taste

Tongue sensitivities diagram

Receptors in the nose

• Olfactory receptors are found in the nose

• They are responsible for the identification of smells and aromas

• Gases produced by food are passed across the receptors in the epithelial cells in the nose

• Receptors pass signals to the brain to indicate the type of smell encountered

Olfactory system diagram