The Structure And Functions Of Tongue

What is the structure of human Tongue? What are the functions of Tongue and the buds? Taste areas of a tongue.

The tongue is the organ of taste. The fuctions of the tongue are:

To taste food
To keep food between the teeth during chewing.
To help swallowing
To help to dean the teeth.
To help speaking.

On the surface of the tongue there are small groups of sensory cells known as taste buds. Taste buds have nerve endings that gather information about different tastes. The taste of food is sensed when food partides are dissolved in saliva. The taste buds then detect the dissolved chemicals that give the food its taste and send the message to the brain. Different kinds of taste buds are found on different parts of the tongue. Each one is sensitive to a particular taste. The four different tastes are sweet, sour, salty and bitter. When you eat a lemon messages from the taste buds for soul travel to your brain where the tastes are interpreted.

Source : pixabay.com

An Easy Experiment:

Purpose : To find the taste areas on the tongue for sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes.
Materials : 3 cotton swabs
3 small beakers
salt solution, sugar solution, lemon solution, a glass of drinking water.
Method: 1. Dip a cotton swab in a small beaker of sugar solution for 30 seconds.
2.Using the sweet cotton swab touch the different areas of the tongue
Caution: Do not dip the cotton swab in the solution again and not use it on anyone else.
Draw a picture of the tongue and put an (x) on the tongue labelled sweet.
3. Drink clean water to rinse your mouth.
4. Repeat steps 1,2,3 using a clean cotton swab with the sour solution and with the salty solution. Record your results.