Taste and Smell Taste receptors Papillae These are

Taste and Smell

Taste receptors- Papillae • These are the locations where threshold sensitivity is greatest. Every taste bud has equal "detection" of each taste

Sweet • Foods rich in simple carbohydrates, such as sugar, sweetened chocolate, cakes (most dessert foods), and some common berries (blueberries, strawberries, and cherries). • Evolutionary standpoint- sweet foods were sought by our ancestors due to their energydense qualities. • Highest taste recognition threshold

Salty • Sense of taste due to the detection of alkali metal ions (primarily the Sodium ion, which every other salty flavor is based off of). • Evolutionary standpoint: salty foods contained the sodium essential to physiological processes. • Examples: table salt, capers, fast food, potato chips, and foods that are high in Sodium.

Sour • Sense of taste that detects acidity. • Examples: naturally sour fruits (lemons, oranges, grapes), wine, sour candy (Lemon Drops, Warheads).

Bitter • The most sensitive of the tastes. • Examples: coffee, unsweetened cocoa, olives, citrus peel, marmalade, beer. • Evolutionary standpoint: We tend to avoid bitter foods, as many natural bitter compounds are known to be toxic.

Umami • Japanese term for "meatiness". Sense of taste associated with detecting savoriness in food. • -Discovered in 1908. • MSG is strongest source of umami flavor. • Examples: cheese, soy sauce, tomatoes, shittake mushrooms, beans, fish, and meat. • Evolutionary standpoint: "meaty" foods contained proteins that aided in tissue growth and reparation.

Taste • - Papillae contain taste buds that transmit the sensation of taste. • - Stimulation produces saliva. • - Electrical impulse created by taste bud's gustatory receptor cells. • - Impulse travels down nerves under tongue to the brain, where it is analyzed and results in the perception of taste

What factors affect taste? 1)Mood • - Brain initiates taste • - Anxious, Depressed: "cardboard" taste • - Stressed: Sugar and carb based food boosts our level of serotonin 2) Aging • - Taste buds wear out • - Disappear from sides and roof of mouth • - Remaining taste buds become less sensitive • - Ability to smell decreases

Tasting with Somatosensory System • Coolness- activates cold receptors even if food is not cold • - "fresh" or "minty" sensation • - Examples: spearmint, menthol, ethanol • Dryness- foods that have astringent (rough) sensation • - most unripe fruits have this taste • - Examples: unripe bananas, tea, red wine, and rhubarb

• Hotness- activates heat receptors even if food is not hot • - Sensation known as chemesthesis (chemical sensibility) which is a multi-sensory perception • - Primarily elicited through the inclusion of spice to food • - Examples: chili and black pepper, ginger, horseradish

Smell

Pheromones • http: //www. smithsonianmag. com/sciencenature/the-truth-about-pheromones 100363955/? no-ist