Taste perception-a matter of sensation

Taste, gustatory perception is the sensory impression of food or other substances on the tongue and is one of the five traditional senses. Taste is the sensation produced when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor cells located on taste buds. Taste, along with smell and trigeminal nerve stimulation determines flavors of food or other substances. Humans have taste receptors on taste buds and other areas including the upper surface of the tongue and the epiglottis. Taste perception fades with age. On average people lose half their taste receptors by the time they turn twenty. This article review about taste, taste buds, its mechanisms, development and aging, role of saliva and its clinical implications.