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Taste Buds Function & Location | How Many Taste Buds Do Humans Have?

Instructor: Tanya HausmanShow bio

Explore taste buds. Learn the definition of a taste bud and discover the location of taste buds. Find how many taste buds humans have and review their function. Updated: 09/08/2022

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What are Taste Buds?

Taste buds are organs on the tongue that are involved in the sense of taste. They are gustatory organs and cells which change chemical stimuli into electrical signals. These signals are then transferred to the nerves and sent to the brain. Taste buds are sensory organs that play a crucial role in creating taste. They sense chemical stimuli from food and send electrical signals to the brain, which then decodes these signals into taste.

How Many Taste Buds Do Humans Have?

The average person has about 10,000 taste buds on their tongue. Taste bud cells regenerate quickly and have a short life span of about eight to twelve days. Each taste bud in the human mouth gets replaced about every two weeks. However, as a person ages, some of the cells do not get replaced; therefore, an older adult may only have 5,000 working taste buds.

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Where are Taste Buds Located?

There are small bumps that cover the tongue. Those bumps are called papillae, and most of these bumps contain taste buds inside them. There are four different types of papillae:

• Filiform: This is the most common type of papillae that covers the tough surface of the tongue. They are found on the front two-thirds of the tongue. These papillae do not contain taste buds.
• Fungiform: This papilla is located near the front on the tip and sides of the tongue. They are dome-shaped, like a fungus or mushroom. There are around 1,600 papillae that contain taste buds.
• Circumvallate: Also called vallate, this is near the back of the tongue. They form two rows on the side that run back and meet in the middle of the tongue. They have a shape like a truncated cone with the broader part of the base slightly above the tongue's surface, containing multiple secondary papillae. There are only 10 to 12 of these papillae on the tongue, but they contain around 250 taste buds.
• Foliate: This is the papillae at the sides of the tongue. They are located in front of the circumvallate papillae, grouped together on each side of the tongue. They look like a leaf seen from the side, hence the name foliate. They contain around 1,000 taste buds.

While taste buds are found all over the tongue, they can also be found on the soft palate, pharynx, larynx, and upper esophagus. Each taste bud can have up to 150 receptor cells that identify various tastes.

What Do Taste Buds Look Like?

The anatomy of the tongue includes the taste buds that cover its surface. Each taste bud is made up of numerous cells. The cells are organized into a barrel-type structure that resembles a flower bud. At the top is an opening called the taste pore, in which resides the microvilli, microscopic hairs. These hairs connect to the receptor cells, which are connected to nerves. These nerves send information to the brain.

This is a labeled diagram of a taste bud. The nerve fibers send information to the brain.

How Taste Buds Work

Food has a chemical makeup. As a person chews, the food releases those chemicals; these chemicals then travel up to the nose. Olfactory receptors are special cells or sensors inside the nose that help a person smell. Those receptors smell the chemicals released from the food, and then they send information about them to the brain.

In addition, each taste bud has microscopic hairs called microvilli. Saliva dissolves chemicals in the food and enters the taste pore at the top of the taste bud. The microvilli collect information about the food from the chemicals, and the taste buds send messages to the brain about how something tastes. The brain decodes the messages sent by both the taste buds and the olfactory receptors and creates the sensation of the taste of food.

If a person is congested from a cold or allergies, food does not seem to have as much flavor since the olfactory receptors cannot receive information and send it to the brain to help decode the taste of the food. Since the nasal passages are stuffy and congested, the chemical signals are not able to reach the olfactory receptors in the nose. Because the olfactory receptors do not have information to send to the brain, the sense of taste cannot be fully developed and food tastes bland. Taste depends on the taste buds and the olfactory receptors to fully function as it should.

What is the Function of Taste Buds?

Taste buds react with the chemicals in foods. The chemical stimuli are sent through the cells and changed into electrical impulses that travel to the brain. Taste buds gather information about the food and send it to the brain so it can decipher it and create a sense of taste.