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• The biology of taste
• Taste disorders

Taste is one of the five senses through which all animals interpret the world around them. (The other senses are smell, touch, sight, and hearing.) Specifically, taste is the sense for determining the flavor of food and other substances. It is one of the two chemical senses (the other being smell) and it is stimulated when taste buds on the tongue come in

contact with certain chemicals. The sense of taste also is influenced by the smell and texture of substances, hereditary factors, culture, and familiarity with specific taste sensations.

The biology of taste

Clusters of small organs called taste buds are located in the mouth, mainly on the surface of the tongue. Taste buds (named so because under the microscope they look similar to plant buds) lie in small...