Taste sense
Can a taste be identified by any part of the tongue?
Our sense of taste
is the sense that enables us to recognize flavors, and this task is helped by
our sense of smell. Therefore, when we
have a cold, food seems as if it has less flavor.
Basically, as
humans, we are able to identify four flavors: salty, sour, sweet and bitter.
The taste that we obtain when we eat something is a combination of all of
these, perceived through the taste buds that cover the surface of our tongue.
However, the taste buds are specialized in detecting specific flavors, and they
cannot identify any other flavors that we consume.
Hypothesis: can a taste be identified by any part of the tongue or
is it only identified by a certain area of the tongue?
In pairs, we are prepared three concentrated
solutions: one with sugar, one with salt and one with instant coffee, adding a
spoonful of each to three different glasses. Then we also have added water gradually until
they have been dissolved totally.
Then, students have put each other a drop on a specific
point on his/her classmate's tongue without them knowing the place or the
substance used. Afterwards, they have marked the position on the drawing of the tongue.
Finally, we have tried to prove our initial hypothesis. Taste sense is certainly dependent of different gustative receptor cells able to percebre the different chemical substances which contain food.
Conlusion: Our hypothesis was confirmed. And you can see it here
