TONGUE AND TASTE

JONATHAN NIMAL
Not true
The sense of taste is mediated by taste receptor cells which are bundled in clusters
called taste buds.
 Types of papillae

Circumvaliate Foliate Fungiform

Taste buds are found primarily in the tongue papillae

https://www.uth.tmc.edu/courses/dental/smell-taste/taste.html
 The taste bud.

The taste cells are modified epithelial cells that

function as sensory receptors.

About 50-60 taste cells are located in pear-shaped

taste buds and the taste cells through microvilli project
into a taste pore.

The taste cells are replaced about every 10 days

 Different Taste

Sweet - usually indicates energy rich nutrients

Umami - the taste of amino acids (e.g. meat broth or
aged cheese)
Salty - allows modulating diet for electrolyte balance
Sour - typically the taste of acids
Bitter - allows sensing of diverse natural toxins

We have approximately 8,000 taste buds and each contains a mixture of receptor cells, allowing them to taste any of
our five tastes.

http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pregastric/taste.html
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pregastric/taste.html
https://www.uth.tmc.edu/courses/dental/smell-taste/taste.html
 You pair the taste in your
Flavor-nutrient learning mouth, that flavor that you’re
getting, with the post-ingestive
consequences,

Complicated
Taste-flavor learning We associate a given flavor
Reasons Why You with one we already like
Like Some Foods and
Hate Others
Social learning We simply like what our
friends and parents like
Infants increase their acceptance of a novel food after repeated dietary exposure to that food. Relative to formula-
feeding, breast-feeding may facilitate the acceptance of solid foods.
 Prenatal and Postnatal Flavor Learning by Human Infants

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/107/6/e88.figures-only
 Taste analysis

Current interest
Pregnancy time food

Oranges Oranges
Chinese Noodles Noodles
Cup noodles Cup noodles
Genetic
Pizza Exposed Pizza
Sour foods
Ice cream Ice cream Lemon juice
Yogurt Yogurt cucumbers
Carrot Carrot No spicy
 More food
Breast feed – Milk has choice
taste
#1: Food = Pleasure

“Food is a great pleasure in our life – not something we should compromise. We simply need to
shift our surroundings to work with our lifestyle instead of against it“ ~ Brian Wansink

#2: Food for Thought

Researchers got $2 wine and put two different labels on them. One said the wine was from North Dakota and the
other said the wine was from California. North Dakota is not exactly known for its vineyards, whereas California
wine is known to be superb around the world.
 #3: Your Eyes Eat First

How your food is presented is just as important as how it tastes.

#4: Food Vision

•When we put all of our food on one plate–in other words see it all at once instead of going back
for small plates, we eat less.
•When we see how much we have eaten, we stop eating. Don’t throw away those rib bones as
you eat them, don’t toss the wrappers of your candy as you chow down the bag. Instead, stack
them into a little pile.