Sandra June Showers. age 11. of Ephrata. Penn..

 What are taste buds?

Without our taste buds. we could never tell whether we were eating salt or sugar. Our food. in fact. would have no flavor at all. How dull' But. except perhaps when we have a cold. these tiny helpers are waiting inside the mouth to give us pleasure. start the food digesting and make sure we do note swallow something horrible.

Taste buds. are shaped like tiny plant buds. They are nerve endings embedded mostly in the tongue. They gather flavor: information and the nerves carry it to the brain. There are countless numbers of them in the mouth. They appear in ones and grouped in clusters.

We can taste an endless number of different flavors. But. it seems. the taste buds can taste only four. Most flavors are a blend of these four ‑sweet. sour. bitter and salt. The taste buds that are best at tasting sugar are at the tip of the tongue. The tip of your tongue gives you most enjoyment from a popsicle. Salt is tasted best by the buds at the tip and sides of the tongue.  Vinegar and sour pickles are tasted best on the sides of the tongue. Quinine. and the bitter flavors. are tasted best et the back of the tongue.