Flavor is more than just odor and taste. It also includes texture and temperature. It even includes the sense of pain, which is what you get from capsaicin in chili peppers. Put it all together and you have the ability to discern 100,000 different flavors.

1. Science of TasteTaste is the sense that helps us enjoy
the foods we eat.
5 Basic Tastes
Sweet
Sour SaltyBitter
Umami
How Taste Works:
From Tongue to Brain
For more information,
visit www.foodinsight.org
http://bit.ly/ScienceofTasteNCBI
Different Tastes on the Tongue
Sour is mainly
identified
further back on
the sides of the
tongue.
We
predominately
taste bitter flavors
at the very back
of the tongue.
We usually taste
salty flavors on
the forward
sides of the
tongue.
We mostly
taste sweet on
the tip of the
tongue.
The brain interprets the information
as taste.
These nerve cells pass along information
to the lower section of the brainstem.
Sensory nerve cells are activated by taste.
Taste begins on the taste bud where
the specific taste comes in contact
with a sensory nerve cell.
@FoodInsight
@FoodInsight
FoodInsight.org
Contrary to popular belief that certain regions of the tongue can only
experience one taste, all parts of the tongue can detect all 5 basic tastes.
However, there are some areas of the tongue more sensitive to specific
tastes.
The sensory nerve cell travels to and
activates other nerve cells.
Each taste bud has
10-50 sensory
nerve cells.
Yum!