Why is it impossible to taste substances with a dry tongue?!
Answers: I tried drying my tongue with a towel then i tried sticking my lollipop on it. I cant tasete a thing. does anyone have a scientific answer to this?
The primary organ for tasting is the mouth. Clusters of cells called taste buds (because under the microscope they look similar to plant buds) cover the tongue and are also found to a lesser extent on the cheek, throat, and the roof of the mouth. First discovered in the 19th century by German scientists Georg Meissner and Rudolf Wagner, taste buds lie on the elevated or ridged surface of the tongue (called the papillae) and have hairlike extensions (microvilli) to increase the receptor surface of the cells.
For most foods and substances, saliva breaks down the chemical components that travel through the poresin the papillae to reach the taste buds, which specialize primarily in processing one of the four major taste groups: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.
I have done an experiment in science class dealing with this... where we had to dry out tounge and then try to figure out what flavor pixie stick we were given. No one was able to figure it out because people must have saliva in order to taste. I do not remember the exact reasoning behind why one cannot taste when their tongue has no saliva, but I do know that what you are saying is true.
I don't know the why of this but a neat trick that I learnt to do that way is swallow peppers. If you want to impress people with your abilities to devour spicy stuff, try swallowing dried peppers on a dry tongue. It goes down as smoothly as water
no
I think it has something to do with your saliva.