Name the four basic taste sensations, describe the new fifth taste, tell how sensitive humans are to each taste and how this difference in sensitivity may have prevented poisonings, and explain why there are so many different flavors if only four (or five) tastes exist

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that there are four basic taste sensations: sweet, salt, sour, and bitter. The new fifth taste is umami, which describes a pleasant savory or "brothy" taste associated with certain amino acids in chicken soup, some meat extracts, kelp, tuna, human milk, cheese, and soybeans. The receptors for umami are sensitive to glutamate, a substance found in monosodium glutamate (MSG). Humans are most sensitive to bitter, less sensitive to sour, even less sensitive to salt, and least sensitive to sweet. This order may have helped prevent poisonings when most humans foraged for food, because bitter and sour foods are more likely to be inedible. Flavors seem more varied because people tend to include sensations of texture, temperature, smell, and even pain ("hot" chili peppers) along with taste. Smell is particularly important in determining flavor.