The Biology of Tasting (AQA GCSE Food Preparation & Nutrition)

Taste receptors & olfactory systems

• The flavours that we experience in foods are a result of both our taste receptors and our olfactory receptors in the nose working together

• The feeling of the food in our mouths also contributes towards the flavours that we experience

Receptors on the tongue

• Taste receptors are found on the surface of the tongue

• These receptors can detect:

  • sweet

  • salty

  • sour

  • bitter

  • umami is a fifth taste that has been recently added, it senses a savoury meaty flavour in food

• In the mouth, food dissolves in saliva and enters the receptors

• Tiny hairs inside the receptors send signals to the brain to indicate the specific taste that has been encountered

Tongue map diagram

Receptors in the nose

• Olfactory receptors are found in the nose

• They are responsible for the identification of smells and aromas

• Gases produced by food are passed across the receptors in the epithelial cells in the nose

• Receptors pass signals to the brain to indicate the type of smell encountered

Olfactory system diagram