Tongue along with taste buds help in vital daily activities like eating and talking.
The tongue is a unique human organ from the perspective of structure and functions. It is essential for human survival. You must be wondering how this small structure is helping your survival. You need to go through this article to know some crazy and interesting facts about your tongue and taste buds.
Your tongue is around 3 inches long.
From the tip of your tongue to the epiglottis, the average length of the male and female tongue is 3.3 and 3.1 inches respectively. An American person named Nick Stoeberl holds the record of having the longest tongue of 3.97 inches.
You have around 3000 taste buds.
The number of taste buds varies between 2000 and 4000. The sensory cells present in the taste buds get renewed every week. People who have enhanced sensitivity towards taste, are called “supertasters”
Taste buds are invisible:
Yes, you heard it right. You can never see taste buds with naked eyes. The round-shaped pinkish structure on your tongue is taste papillae. They help in sending the taste. These papillae are divided into three types, such as circumvallate, fungiform, and foliate. The papillae observed near your throat are called circumvallate papillae. Fungiform papillae are present at the tip of the tongue. The back edges of your tongue comprise around 20 foliate papillae.
Contrary to what you taught, you don’t sense varying tastes in distinct areas of your tongue:
Since childhood, you might have thought that separate zones of your tongue sense different tastes. But this is actually a false concept. Every part of your tongue can sense each taste.The two sides of your tongue are much more sensitive than any other part. However, it was found that the back portion of your tongue is comparatively much sensitive to bitter taste.
Your tongue is comprised of muscles only.
The tongue is composed of several muscles. At least 8 muscles are intertwined with each other to provide a highly flexible matrix. Structurally, it is like the trunk of an elephant. You must be surprised to know that these muscles are not dependent on the skeletal muscle system. The most important criteria of your tongue muscle are that they are capable of doing swallowing, eating, and talking at the same time.
Your tongue and taste buds are important for survival.
The sensitivity towards any foreign particle and food is extremely high in your tongue. It is known as the gatekeeper of your body. If your food particle contains unnecessary elements, the tongue will automatically detect it. The bitter sensitivity is higher on the backside, so it acts as a checkpoint from eating spoiled food or poisonous substances. So, the tongue is important for your survival.
Just like a fingerprint, your tongue print is also unique.
Your tongue print is distinct from others. Thus, tongue print can effectively be used for identification purposes for its uniqueness. Scientists are trying to use this principle in the biometric sensor.
Aren't those facts about your taste buds interesting?
