Abstract
Many human psychophysical and animal behavioral and electrophysiological studies have been employed and provided evidence that saliva can widely affect the oral sense including the five basic tastes and the taste of fat, starch, astringency, and tactile sensation. For many tastants, saliva will be the solvent used to convey the ions to the taste buds. Taste pores are usually filled with mucous fluid that is derived from saliva and perhaps secretions from taste bud cells. Acids can stimulate both taste and trigeminal sensory receptors. This chapter discusses the role of saliva as a solvent, and the role of saliva in salty, sour, sweet, umami and bitter tastes, and tastes produced by amylase and lipase. For the secretion of sufficient resting saliva and maintenance of oral senses, it is necessary to maintain the ability to produce sufficient stimulated saliva, which requires sound salivary glands, neural circuits, and chewing capability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Handbook of Olfaction and Gustation |
| Subtitle of host publication | Third Edition |
| Publisher | WILEY-BLACKWELL |
| Pages | 623-636 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781118971758 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781118139226 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 4 Jun 2015 |
Keywords
- Astringency
- Mucous fluid
- Oral senses
- Saliva
- Sensory receptors
- Taste transduction