When it comes to your taste buds, it has now been proven that there are five "tastes" that are recognized, and these five are split into two categories. Things that taste savory, sweet or bitter, also referred to as "umami", are detected by the brain using a chemical signal called a 'G protein coupled receptor'. Things that taste sour or salty are registered through the brain using ion channels.
Your tongue is covered with over 3,000 taste buds and each part of your tongue detects a different flavor when you eat something. Bitter substances are usually detected at the back of the tongue whilst sweet things are detected at the very front. Here is a link to a simple diagram of the tongue and where the specific taste buds are located: www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://edu.glogster.com/media
In order for your brain to detect the flavor of something i.e. Salty, sweet, sour etc., it must go through a number of processes. The first step is for your taste buds to identify the level of sweetness. It has been scientifically proven that the part of your taste buds that identify sugar are the receptors called T1r2 and Tir3. Not only can these receptors taste natural sugar such as sucrose and glucose, they can also detect artificial sugars and sweeteners for example aspartame and saccharin which people use to replace natural sugar.
It is also a little known fact that the sensors that detect the level of sweetness are also located in your intestines and pancreas further along the digestive system. Once the food reaches these parts of the body, the level of sweetness will be detected again and your digestive system will release the specific enzymes that are needed to digest the amount of sweetness that was detected. Without the receptors that are located on your tongue and throughout your digestive system, your body would not be able to process the food you ingest.
Your tongue is covered with over 3,000 taste buds and each part of your tongue detects a different flavor when you eat something. Bitter substances are usually detected at the back of the tongue whilst sweet things are detected at the very front. Here is a link to a simple diagram of the tongue and where the specific taste buds are located: www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://edu.glogster.com/media
In order for your brain to detect the flavor of something i.e. Salty, sweet, sour etc., it must go through a number of processes. The first step is for your taste buds to identify the level of sweetness. It has been scientifically proven that the part of your taste buds that identify sugar are the receptors called T1r2 and Tir3. Not only can these receptors taste natural sugar such as sucrose and glucose, they can also detect artificial sugars and sweeteners for example aspartame and saccharin which people use to replace natural sugar.
It is also a little known fact that the sensors that detect the level of sweetness are also located in your intestines and pancreas further along the digestive system. Once the food reaches these parts of the body, the level of sweetness will be detected again and your digestive system will release the specific enzymes that are needed to digest the amount of sweetness that was detected. Without the receptors that are located on your tongue and throughout your digestive system, your body would not be able to process the food you ingest.
