taste (redirected from Taste receptor)

taste (tast)

1. the sense effected by the gustatory receptors in the tongue. Four qualities are distinguished: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

2. the act of perceiving by this sense.

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taste (tst)

n.

1. The sense that distinguishes the sweet, sour, salty, and bitter qualities of dissolved substances in contact with the taste buds on the tongue.

2. This sense in combination with the senses of smell and touch, which together receive a sensation of a substance in the mouth.

3. The sensation of sweet, sour, salty, or bitter qualities produced by or as if by a substance placed in the mouth.

4. The unified sensation produced by any of these qualities plus a distinct smell and texture; flavor.

v.

1. To distinguish the flavor of something by taking it into the mouth.

2. To eat or drink a small quantity of something.

3. To distinguish flavors in the mouth.

4. To have a distinct flavor.

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taste,

n the sense of perceiving different flavors in soluble substances that contact the tongue and trigger nerve impulses to special taste centers in the cortex and the thalamus of the brain. The four basic traditional tastes are sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.

taste bud,

n any one of many peripheral taste organs distributed over the tongue and the roof of the oral cavity. See also lingual papillae.

Taste bud.

taste enhancers,

n.pl food additives that have little or no flavor of their own but when added to food bring out the taste of certain foods. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the most common flavor or taste enhancer.

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taste

the peculiar sensation caused by the contact of soluble substances with the tongue; the sense effected by the tongue, the gustatory and other nerves, and the gustatory center.

There are four basic tastes: sweet, salt, sour and bitter. Sometimes alkaline and metallic are also included as basic tastes. All other tastes are combinations of these. The taste buds are specialized, and each responds only to the kind of basic taste that is its specialty. The location of and the number of taste buds varies between animal species.

Other senses, including smell and touch, also play an important role in tasting.

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taste bud, taste organ

the organ of taste; spherical nests of cells embedded in the mucosa of the mouth and tongue are composed of supporting and gustatory cells. The gustatory cells have a delicate, hairlike process which protrudes from the peripheral surface of the cell. Substances must be in solution to be tasted, solids must be chewed and mixed with saliva.

conditioned taste aversion

animals have been shown to develop aversions to foods associated with illness or other adverse experiences.

conditioned taste preference

theoretically, the reverse of conditioned taste aversion, which is a naturally occurring phenomenon; it is not widely accepted that animals will associate recovery from illness with a specific taste or food.

taste pore

opening from the exterior to a taste bud.

taste receptor

one of the three types of cell in a taste bud; called also gustatory cells.