What is on your tongue that allows you to taste differences in food? The answer is taste buds.
Taste buds are small clusters of sensory cells, mostly located in structures called papillae on the tongue. Chemicals from food dissolve in saliva and enter each taste bud through a tiny opening called a taste pore. Receptor cells then detect the chemical signals and send information through nerves to taste-processing areas of the brain.
Humans recognize five established basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, the savory taste associated with substances such as glutamate. A typical taste bud contains roughly 50 to 150 receptor cells, and the human tongue has thousands of taste buds. Taste cells are continually replaced, with many lasting around 10 days.
A famous misconception is the “tongue map,” which claims that separate tongue zones detect only particular tastes. In reality, receptors for the basic tastes are distributed across much of the tongue and other parts of the mouth. Smell also contributes greatly to what people call flavor.