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The Human Body - What Are The Primary Sensations Of Taste?

What are the primary sensations of taste?

The four main categories of taste are sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. In general, sweet tastes are perceived on the tip of the tongue, salty tastes on the sides toward the front, sour tastes on the sides farther back, and bitter tastes on the back of the tongue. The level of sensitivity to these tastes, as well as these specific locations, varies from person to person.

Each person has about nine thousand taste buds, most of which are located on the tongue. There are also some taste buds on the lips (usually very salt-sensitive), the inner cheeks, the underside of the tongue, the back of the throat, and the roof of the mouth.

Sources: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, p. 965; Guyton, Arthur C. Textbook of Medical Physiology, 8th ed., p. 581; Hillman, Howard. Kitchen Science, Rev. ed., pp. 283-84.

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