Taste buds – taste receptors in mammals, located on the tongue, palate, pharyngeal epithelium, upper esophagus and epiglottis. They focus on the tongue in visible protrusions – the nipples. In an adult, the number of cups is about 10. Some of them are destroyed after about 000 days, but new ones appear in their place. The taste buds are stimulated by chemical compounds found in the food we eat.
Sense of taste it is one of the basic human senses. Thanks to it, we can enjoy a variety of dishes. They are responsible for perceiving these stimuli, i.e. taste taste buds.
There are four basic flavors: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour, as well as additional – umami – glutamic acid flavor, which has been recognized as fifth taste. The latter is found in protein-rich products, mainly in meat, fish and soy sauce, tomatoes, nuts, mushrooms, algae and broccoli. Smak umami they also contain highly processed products containing monosodium glutamate, which is marked on product packaging with the symbol E621. The greatest number of such products can be found in Asian cuisine, and it is there that such food is most popular among the local population. Often, restaurateurs or food producers try to additionally conquer and enhance this taste. Importantly, products with such a characteristic taste can be introduced for a longer time into the diet of the elderly and those with eating disorders, because glutamic acid makes the taste more intense and stimulates salivation and has a positive effect on the appetite. The cells responsible for the taste are stimulated by substances in the mucus that covers the surrounding mucosa taste buds.
Taste buds increase their sensitivity in pregnant women, however, the sensitivity to individual tastes is different in each person. It is genetically determined and each of us experiences different tastes to a different degree. They are most different in feeling sweet and bitter flavors.
However, specific chemicals are responsible for the perception of a given taste. Carbohydrates and alcohols are responsible for the sense of sweet taste. For bitter taste – alkaloids, too sour – hydrogen ions, and too salty – potassium and sodium salts.
There is also increasing talk of occurrence different taste, viz “Fatty taste”which is related to the presence of fatty acids in a given product. Obese people may be the most sensitive to this taste. Then, fat substitutes in various products are not as “tasty” as products containing real fat, because they only imitate its texture and taste.