Taste

Taste
Taste belongs to our chemical sensing system, or the chemosenses. The complicated process of tasting begins when molecules released by the substances stimulate special cells in the mouth or throat. These special sensory cells transmit messages through nerves to the brain where specific tastes are identified. Gustatory or taste cells react to food and beverages. These surface cells in the mouth send taste information to their nerve fibers. The taste cells are clustered in the taste buds of the mouth and throat. Many of the small bumps that can be seen on the tongue contain taste buds. Smell contributes to our sense of taste, as does another chemosensory mechanism called the common chemical sense. In this system, thousands of nerve endings—especially on the moist surfaces of the eyes, nose, mouth, and throat—give rise to sensations like the sting of ammonia, the coolness of menthol, and the irritation of chili peppers. We can commonly identify four basic taste sensations: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. In the mouth these tastes, along with texture, temperature, and the sensations from the common chemical sense, combine with odors to produce a perception of flavor. It is flavor that lets us know whether we are eating a pear or an apple. Flavors are recognized mainly through the sense of smell. If you hold your nose while eating chocolate, for example, you will have trouble identifying the chocolate flavor—even though you can distinguish the foods sweetness or bitterness. That is because the familiar flavor of chocolate is sensed largely by odor. So is the well-known flavor of coffee.
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1. To perceive through the gustatory system. 2. The sensation produced by a suitable stimulus applied to the t. buds. [It. tastare; L. tango, to touch]
- after-t. aftertaste.
- color t. a form of synesthesia in which the color sense and t. are associated, with stimulation of either sense inducing a subjective sensation in the associated sense. SYN: pseudogeusesthesia.
- franklinic t. a metallic or sour t. produced by the application of static electricity to the tongue. SYN: voltaic t..
- voltaic t. SYN: franklinic t..
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taste 'tāst vb, tast·ed; tast·ing vt to ascertain the flavor of by taking a little into the mouth vi to have a specific flavor <the milk \tastes sour>
taste n
1) the one of the special senses that is concerned with distinguishing the sweet, sour, bitter, or salty quality of a dissolved substance and is mediated by taste buds on the tongue
2) the objective sweet, sour, bitter, or salty quality of a dissolved substance as perceived by the sense of taste
3) a sensation obtained from a substance in the mouth that is typically produced by the stimulation of the sense of taste combined with those of touch and smell: FLAVOR

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n.
the sense for the appreciation of the flavour of substances in the mouth. The sense organs responsible are the taste buds on the surface of the tongue, which are stimulated when food dissolves in the saliva in the mouth. It is generally held that there are four basic taste sensations - sweet, bitter, sour, and salt - but two others - alkaline and metallic - are sometimes added to this list.

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(tāst) [L. gustus] 1. the sense effected by the gustatory receptors in the tongue. Four qualities are distinguished by taste: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. 2. the act of perceiving by this sense.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • Taste — (or, more formally, gustation) is a form of direct chemoreception and is one of the traditional five senses. It refers to the ability to detect the flavor of substances such as food and poisons. In humans and many other vertebrate animals the… …   Wikipedia

  • taste — n 1 Taste, flavor, savor, tang, relish, smack can all mean the property of a substance which makes it perceptible to the gustatory sense. Taste not only is the most inclusive of these terms but it gives no suggestion of a specific character or… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Taste — Taste, n. 1. The act of tasting; gustation. [1913 Webster] 2. A particular sensation excited by the application of a substance to the tongue; the quality or savor of any substance as perceived by means of the tongue; flavor; as, the taste of an… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Taste — Pays d’origine Cork,  Irlande Genre musical Rock Années d activité 1966 1970 2 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • taste — [tāst] vt. tasted, tasting [ME tasten < OFr taster, to handle, touch, taste < VL * tastare, prob. < * taxitare, freq. of L taxare, to feel, touch sharply, judge of, freq. of tangere: see TACT] 1. Obs. to test by touching 2. to test the… …   English World dictionary

  • Taste — Datos generales Origen Irlanda Información artística Género(s) Rhythm Blues Blues Rock …   Wikipedia Español

  • taste — [n1] flavor of some quality aftertaste, aroma, bang*, bitter, drive, ginger, jolt, kick*, oomph*, palatableness, piquancy, punch*, relish, salt, sapidity, sapor, savor, savoriness, smack, sour, sting*, suggestion, sweet, tang*, wallop, zest,… …   New thesaurus

  • Taste — (t[=a]st), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tasted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Tasting}.] [OE. tasten to feel, to taste, OF. taster, F. tater to feel, to try by the touch, to try, to taste, (assumed) LL. taxitare, fr. L. taxare to touch sharply, to estimate. See… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Taste — Taste, v. i. 1. To try food with the mouth; to eat or drink a little only; to try the flavor of anything; as, to taste of each kind of wine. [1913 Webster] 2. To have a smack; to excite a particular sensation, by which the specific quality or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • taste — ► NOUN 1) the sensation of flavour perceived in the mouth on contact with a substance. 2) the faculty of perceiving this. 3) a small portion of food or drink taken as a sample. 4) a brief experience of something. 5) a person s liking for… …   English terms dictionary

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