Gustatory sensation

A century ago, Fick proposed the concept of four primary tastes, namely, sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. It has since been found that taste sensations are not describable by a single collection of discrete primaries. Electrophysiological studies of afierent taste-units in the chorda tympani and glossophyrangeal nerves have revealed that a continuous spectrum of gustation may be based on these four taste elements. Furthermore, the intensities of the tastes that we commonly experience are due not only to gustatory sensations but also to tactile, hot and cold, and, above all, olfactory sensations. The complexities of taste studies are such that, unless one of the taste modalities is singled out for study, there is very little hope of success. 

Gerber, Stocker, Tanimura and Thum use Drosophila to elucidate the generation of behavior from olfactory and gustatory sensation. The functional anatomy of Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons is described both for mature flies and larvae, which emerge as simpler model system with fewer olfactory receptors and with attraction and repulsion as easily testable, behavioral outcomes. 

Olfactory sensation results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by a particular substance in gaseous form called an odorant, which is capable of being translated into the subjective responses of neural brain stimulation that we term odour, smell, aroma, flavour or scent. Gustatory sensation that determines the taste is a sensation ehcited by substances acting on taste receptors in taste cells in the mouth. 

Gustatory sensation includes five basic tastes sweet, salty, sour, bitter and timami. 

Those experiencing intoxication with Henbane feel a pressure in the head, a sensation as if someone were closing the eyelids by force sight becomes unclear, objects are distorted in shape, and the most unusual visual hallucinations are induced. Gustatory and olfactory hallucinations frequently accompany the intoxication. Eventually sleep, disturbed by dreams and hallucinations, ends the inebriation. 

This method has the main aim of detecting attributes and defects, and measuring their intensity, for the classification of the various categories of virgin olive oils (Angerosa, 2001). The sensory attributes perceived by the consumer arise from the stimulation of gustatory and olfactory receptors from a large number of volatile and some non-volatile compounds such as simple and combined phenols. The intensity of each sensation is related to the concentration of chemical compounds identified in the volatile fraction of the oil. 

The flavor of food is the most important sensory attribnte affecting the acceptance and preference of consumers. Standards organizations in many countries define flavor as a total impression of taste, odor, tactile, kinesthetic, temperature, and pain sensations perceived through tasting [1]. It is widely accepted that flavor includes the aromatics, such as olfactory perceptions caused by volatile substances the tastes, such as gustatory perceptions (salty, sweet, sour, and bitter) caused by soluble... 

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