Taste bud

Taste buds (or lingual papillae) are small structures on the upper surface of the tongue that provide information about the taste of food being eaten.

Related Topics:
Tongue - Taste

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The human tongue has about 10,000 taste buds.

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There are four types of taste buds present in the human tongue.

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• Fungiform papillae - as the name suggests, these taste buds are slightly mushroom shaped if looked at in section. These are present mostly at the apex (tip) of the tongue.
• Filiform papillae - these are thin, longer taste buds, and are the most numerous. These papillae are mechanical and not involved in gustation.
• Foliate papillae - these are ridges and grooves towards the posterior part of the tongue.
• Vallate papillae - there are only about 3-14 of these taste buds on most people, and they are present at the back of the oral part of the tongue. They are arranged in a V-shaped row just in front of the sulcus terminalis of the tongue.

It is known that there are five taste sensations:

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• Sweet, Bitter, and Umami, which work with a signal through a G-protein coupled receptor.
• Salty and Sour, which work with ion channels.

Contrary to popular understanding, taste is not experienced on different parts of the tongue. The "tongue map myth" was based on a mistranslation of a German paper that was written in 1901 by a Harvard psychologist. Though there are small differences in sensation, which can be measured with highly specific instruments, all taste buds can respond to all types of taste.

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