Gustatory Receptor

Taste is often described as the most pleasurable of the senses, and it is detected by structures called taste buds, most of which sit on the tongue's papillae — small projections that also give the tongue its characteristically rough, abrasive texture — though a smaller number of taste buds are scattered on the soft palate, the inner cheek surface, the pharynx and the epiglottis. Each taste bud is flask-shaped and made of 50 to 100 epithelial cells of two functional types: gustatory epithelial cells (the actual taste-sensing cells) and basal epithelial cells, which act as a constantly renewing source of new gustatory cells since taste-bud cells take a great deal of physical and thermal wear from food and are replaced roughly every 7 to 10 days. …