Taste: Sense

Types Of Taste Taste Taste Buds Papillae Filiform, Fungiform
Foliate & Circumvallate. Sour
Salty
Bitter
Sweet
Umami (Savory) It is also referred to as Gustation. It is the ability to detect the flavor of substances such as food, certain minerals, and poisons, etc. The basic tastes contribute only partially to the sensation and flavor of food in the mouth — other factors include: Smell
Texture
Temperature
Pain Taste Buds Supporting Cells Gustatory cells: are chemoreceptors that respond to ligands that bind to them. Physiology of Taste Sour:
Caused by H+ Ions in acidic foods
Acidic = Sour Salty:
Elicited by ionized salt (Na+)
Broken down mainly from NaCl Sweet:
Caused by a variety of substances most notably sugars, alcohols, and amino acids. Bitter:
Similar to sweet in that it is elicited by many different compounds Umami:
attributed to the detection of specific amino acids (glutamate & aspartate)
Found mainly in meat, cheese, mushrooms, & other protein rich foods. Only Vallate & Fungiform contain taste buds
Filiform contain touch receptors but no taste buds Filiform Elements of Gustation:
Receptor: Gustatory Receptor Cells
Stimulus: Chemical called Tastants
Pathway: Gustatory Pathway Tastants: chemicals that stimulate gustatory receptor cells Physiology of Taste Pt. 2 Tastants such as Na+ depolarize the receptor cell opening up Ca+ gated channels.
Ca+ enters stimulating neurotransmitter release.
Neurotransmitter passes synaptic cliff and Cranial Nerves VIII (Facial), IX (GP), X (Vagus) send signal to brain to process For compounds such as sweet, bitter, & Umami tastants bind to G protien-coupled receptors
These specialized receptors activate a second messenger system.
This messenger system opens cation channels and depolarizes the cell.