What are the Basic Tastes?

The taste of a grapefruit, to take one example, is composed of sourness, bitterness and sweetness. Sour, bitter and sweet cannot be broken down into smaller constituent parts or expressed in any other way. The basic tastes are pure, unique tastes that cannot be produced by mixing other tastes. For humans, the ability to detect the basic tastes is essential to survival. The idea that taste is not just a source of enjoyment, but is a set of signals that direct us to satisfy the body’s needs or to protect the body from harmful substances, is generally accepted based on physiological and nutritional studies. Sweet is a signal of energy intake from sugar. Sour is a sign of organic acids in unripe fruit and rotting foods. The bitterness of alkaloids enables us to avoid harmful substances, and the saltiness of minerals is necessary to maintain the tonic balance of body fluids. Recent studies suggest that umami signals to the body that we have ingested protein. Umami facilitates the digestion of protein by promoting the secretion of saliva and digestive juices.