SENSATION OF

TASTE
Syllabus outline
• Taste: structure and function of tongue
• Gustatory pathway and testing for taste
• Pathology of taste
• Sense of taste is chemical sense that is stimulated by food and drink
• Contributes to the quality of life and is important stimulant for
digestion

• Different from flavour- olfactory, tactile, and thermal attributes

Site of taste
• Tongue is the main site of taste detection
• Papillae
• Circumvallate papillae
• Fungiform papillae
• Foliate papillae
• Filliform papillae
• Taste buds
Tongue : Papillae
1. Circumvallate papillae:
• 10 to 12 in a single row
• in front of the sulcus terminalis
• Surrounded by a groove
• 200 taste buds on sides of each
Tongue : Papillae
2. Fungiform papillae:
• Bright red flat dots
• 1mm diameter
• Anterior 2/3rd of the tongue
along the edges, dorsum and
tips
• 8-10 taste buds on each papilla
Tongue : Papillae
3. Foliate papillae:
• Mucosal folds
• Posterolateral surface of the
tongue anterior to
circumvallate papillae
• Taste buds
Tongue : Papillae
4. Filliform papillae:
• Small conical projections,
covering the dorsum of
anterior 2/3rd tongue
• Parallel to sulcus terminalis
• No taste buds
• Break up food-gustatory
papillae
Tongue: Taste buds
• Sites: tongue papillae, hard and soft palate, epiglottis, pharynx, upper
1/3rd of oesophagus
• Structure:
1. Receptor cells
2. Basal replacement cells
3. Supporting cells
• Innervation:
1. Special
2. Tactile and temperature
Taste buds: Structure
1. Receptor cells:
• Elongated, bipolar shaped,
extend from epithelial opening
to base
• Replaced in 10 days from basal
cell differentiation
• Taste pore
• Microvilli protrude from the
pore
• Sensory neuron at the base-
synapse with the cell
Taste buds: Structure
2. Basal cells:
• Small round cells
• Bottom of the taste bud
• May be stem cells differentiate
to taste cells
Taste buds: Structure
3. Supporting cells:
• Present in the taste buds
• No taste function
• Function not known
Taste buds:
Innervation
• Special: branches of facial,
glossopharyngeal, vagus

• Tactile and temperature:

trigeminal
Taste pathway
First order neurons:
• Anterior 2/3rd of the tongue:
• Lingual branch of corda tympany of
the facial nerve
• Ganglion- geniculate
• Posterior 2/3rd of the tongue
• Glossopharyngeal nerve
• Ganglia- superior and inferior
ganglia
• Pharyngeal, epiglottis, hard and
soft palate
Taste pathway
First order neurons:
• Pharyngeal, epiglottis, hard and
soft palate
• Vagus nerve
• Ganglia: superior and inferior
ganglia of vagus
• Termination:
• Tractus solitarius to reach nucleus
of tractus solitarius
Taste pathway
Second order neurons:
• Cell body- nucleus of tractus
solitarius in medulla
• Axons cross midline to join medial
lemniscus
• Termination: ventral posterior
medial nucleus of thalamus along
with trigeminal
Taste pathway
Third order neurons:
• Cell bodies: ventral posterior
medial nucleus of thalamus
• Termination: inferior part of post
central gyrus- taste cortex
Physiology of taste: the stimuli
• The stimulant for taste sensation are called tastants.
• Taste sensations can be described as:
• Sweet
• Salty
• Sour
• Bitter
• Umami
• Flavour is caused by combination of these tastes with olfaction,
temperature and texture.
Physiology of taste: the stimuli
• Taste buds that detect the tastes are located on
special areas of the tongue:
• Sweet- tips
• Salty and sour- sides
• Bitter – base
• Tastes can be sensed from all parts of the
tongue as well as adjacent structures
containing tastebuds
Physiology of taste sensation: the stimulus
• Sweet:
• Sugar, glycols, alcohols, aldehyde, esters
• Salty:
• Anions of ionizable salts
• Sour:
• Acids, intensity related to pH
• Bitter:
• Alkaloids- quinines, caffeine
• Umami:
• Monosodium glutamate-MSG, meaty taste
Physiology of taste: transduction
• Chemicals released from food particle come in contact with microvilli
• Binding to receptor activation
• Graded depolarization of receptor cells
• Adequate depolarization voltage gated calcium channels
Ca2+ influx
• Increased intracellular Ca2+ level exocytosis of neurotransmitter
glutamate from receptor cell into synaptic cleft
• Action potential in sensory axon
Physiology of taste: transduction
Sweet tastants:
Depolarization occurs by:
1. Activation of adenylate cyclase:
• Receptors couple with G protein
• G protein interacts with adenylyl cyclase
• Increased cAMP
• Closure of K+ selective channel
• Depolarization
Physiology of taste: transduction
2. Stimulating inositol triphosphate (IP3) production
• Receptor couples with gustducin
• IP3 production
• Ca+ released from stores
Physiology of taste: transduction
Bitter:
1. Stimulating inositol triphosphate production
• Receptors couple with G-protein
• Stimulation of IP3 production
• Increased intracellular Ca2+ level
• Release of synaptic transmitter and activation of gustatory nerve fibre
Physiology of taste: transduction
Bitter:
2. Lowering levels of cAMP and cGmp
• Receptors couple with cell specific G-protein gustducin
• Gustducin activates phosphodiesterase
• Reduction in intracellular levels of cAMP and cGMP
Physiology of taste: transduction
Bitter:
3. Blocking apical K+ channel
• Quinine depolarizes taste cells by blocking apical K+ channel
Physiology of taste: transduction
Salty :
• Activation of amiloride sensitive Na+ channel

Sour:
• Passage of H+ through amiloride sensitive Na+ channel
• Blockade of K+ channel
Umami:
• Truncated metabotopic glutamate receptor (mGluR4)
• Agonists- 5-ribonucleotides : AMP and GMP in food
Physiology of taste: transmission to cortex
• Each taste cell synapses with many sensory fibres
• Each sensory fibre contacts many taste cells

• Depolarization of taste cell causes synaptic neurotransmitter release

• Sensory fibres carry signals from all the taste cells it innervates to the
nucleus of solitary tract
• Thalamus
• Gustatory cortex
Physiology of taste: encoding
• Encoding is not simple, labelled-line, chemical sensory system
• Identity of a taste stimulus encoded by unique pattern of inputs from
many separate taste fibres that provide components of the pattern for
different stimuli
Physiology of taste: Taste threshold
• Minimum conc of substance required to perceive the taste
Substance Taste Threshold
concentration (mol/l)
Hydrochloric acid Sour 100
Sodium chloride Salt 2000
Strychnine Bitter 1.60
hydrochloride
Quinine Bitter 8
Glucose Sweet 80,000
Sucrose Sweet 10,000
Saccharine Sweet 23
Physiology of taste: Intensity discrimination

• 50% change in concentration is necessary before intensity difference

can be detected

• Women more sensitive to sweet and salt and less to sour

Physiology of taste: Sensation of flavours
• Gustatory inputs: the tastes

• Olfactory inputs:
• Volatile molecules are pumped back into nasal cavity by tongue, cheek and throat
movements
• Somatosensory involvement causes localization of the odorants as flavour in mouth

• Somatosensory input:
• Texture
• Temperature
• Pain of spicy and minty food
Physiology of taste:
Factors influencing taste sensation:
1. Area of stimulation 1. Adaptation
2. Temperature of tastants 2. Interaction between taste
3. Age of person producing substances

4. Sex 3. Effect of taste modifying

proteins
4. Abnormalities
 Abnormalities

1. Ageusia 1. Hypogeusia
• Lesions of mandibular division of 2. Dysgeusia
trigeminal nerve
3. Selective taste blindness
• Lesions of glossopharyngeal
nerve 4. Hypersensitivity to taste
• Lesions of facial nerve 5. Taste disturbances
• Drugs: cisplatin, captopril,
penicillamine
• Familial dysautonomia