Taste is one of the classic five senses that humans are equipped with. With the five senses of taste, sight, hearing, smell and touch, people can perceive impressions and stimuli with the help of their sensory organs. There are also four other senses: the sense of temperature, sense of balance, body and pain sensation.
How the sense of taste works exactly, what different tastes there are and why taste is so individual - we will explain to you here in this blog post.
This is how the sense of taste works
Our tongue and the taste buds on it determine taste. You can see the taste buds with the naked eye - they are the red dots on your tongue. There are so-called taste buds in these taste papillae. Through a small opening, saliva and food components enter the more than a hundred taste buds and the taste sensory cells. An impulse is then triggered in the taste sensory cell, which transmits the information via nerves to the brain and is analyzed there. But the sense of smell is also particularly important for taste. More complex tastes can only be perceived through the interaction of the sense of smell, touch, temperature and pain. It can be said that the diversity of foods can only be fully revealed through the interaction of the senses.
Saliva production, which is stimulated by chewing food, is very important for tasting. Only through saliva does the food break down into its components and reach the taste buds.
We can perceive these tastes
These five flavors are noticeable to us:
Sweet:
- Sugar and other carbohydrates
- energy supplier
- Can be consumed safely
Salty:
- Minerals
- Important for metabolism in moderation
- Unhealthy in excess
Bitter:
- Bitter substances indicate toxins
- There are also many health-promoting bitter substances
- For plants, protection from predators
Sour:
- Stimulation of salivation
- Enjoy food with caution
- Unripe fruit, sour milk
Umami:
- Reference to proteins
- Hearty, spicy, meaty taste
- Glutamic acid is responsible
Taste is so individual
Taste is very individual and is perceived differently. The genetic makeup is responsible for this. Depending on the predisposition, some responsible genes are “switched on” and some are “switched off”. The cultural environment in which the person grows up is also crucial. This means that your childhood influences and the culture you are born into determine your individual taste. For example, the parents' eating culture, as well as the mother's diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding, influence certain taste preferences. This means people can get used to the taste over time. You probably know that from coffee, right?
Taste develops over the course of life. Toddlers and babies have significantly more taste buds and it is only around the age of three that the taste organs and the nervous system of taste are fully developed so that they can perceive the full variety of tastes.
The sense of taste can also be dulled if, for example, you eat foods that are too spicy or too salty. This is particularly the case with finished goods.
What's interesting is that you can also "train" yourself to have a certain tolerance for spiciness - this means that when you eat something spicy, the receptors for feeling pain become less sensitive. The fact is that spiciness is not a taste, but rather part of the sensation of pain. When eating spicy foods, the heat and pain receptors in the mucous membrane are irritated and the taste buds do not play a role.
The new spice line from GREENFORCE
At GREENFORCE we have a great line of spices in our range to suit your taste buds. This will particularly flatter your taste buds. Unlike other spice manufacturers, which often contain hidden sugar, our high-quality spices are:
- Free from gluten, lactose, yeast extract and NA glutamate
- Without added artificial colors, artificial flavors and preservatives
- Raw materials of the highest quality
- Gentle manufacturing processes
There are a few names for “hidden” sugar or sweetening ingredients - for example, you sometimes read lactose, dextrose, glucose or sugary ingredients such as caramel syrup, fruit concentrates, agave syrup or barley malt.
Would you like to find out more about our spice line? Then click here.
Here you can shop our great spices directly and give your dishes that special twist! Enjoy your meal.
