What are taste buds?

Taste depends on the impact of the atoms given off by a substance on certain specially sensitive organs in our body.we can taste only when atoms of a substance can move about freely.that is why,we only taste things that are in a state of solution. Every living being has taste buds.but they vary in their number and the place where they are found.In human beings,they exist only on the tongue.Our tongue is covered with tiny wartlike bumps,called papillae.

The taste buds on the human tongue are distributed in different Zones and each zone is sensitive to a different kind of taste.The back of the tongue is more sensitive to bitter,the sides are sensitive to sour and salt and the tip of the tongue picks up sweet tastes.In the centre of the tongue there is a zone without any taste buds,and it can taste nothing.on the whole,man has only 3,000 taste buds.

In the entire tasting process,smell has in important part to play.At least half of what we think of,as taste,is not taste at all but really smell.this is true when we 'taste' such things as coffee,tea,tobacco,wine,apples,oranges and lemons.for instance,when we drink coffee,we first sense the warmth,then the bitterness that comes from the acid and the roasting and then the sweetness,but not until the warm vapour released by the coffee hits our throat and nose.

Then sends its messages to the brain,do we really 'taste'taste the coffee!The proof is that if we close our nose with a clothespin,not only won't we be able to'taste' the coffee,but we 'll find that we can't tell the difference between two,completely different things we are eating or drinking.Isn't it amazing!In contrast to man,aquatic animals have taste buds all over their bodies and animals that live on land have their taste buds concentrated in their mouth.the number of taste buds also vary from animal to animal.A pig has 5,500 taste buds,a cow has 35,000 and an antelope has 50,000 taste buds.In short,the number of taste buds depends on the needs of the particular specie.