Question

Taste buds are located on?
A) Palate
B) Tongue only
C) Pharynx
D) All of these

Answer 1

Hint: Taste buds are an essential part of our life. Getting nutrition for us depends upon the taste of the food we are having. The taste receptor cells in the taste buds are known as gustatory cells.

Complete answer:
First, we must know about taste buds. Taste buds are specialized cells for the detection of chemical stimuli. They help us to differentiate between the various taste like sweet, sour, bitter and salty.
Now let us explore the various options given to us –
Palate – In humans and other mammals, the palate is the roof of the mouth. The oral cavity and the nasal cavity are separated by it. It comprises of
- A hard palate – which has bones and is immobile
- A soft palate – which has muscle fibres covered by a mucous membrane.

It must be surprising for you but the roof of the mouth to have taste buds. The tongue is a thick muscular sensory organ. Its posterior part is attached to the floor of the buccal cavity by a soft ligamentous fold called Frenulum lingue. We obviously know that tongue contain taste buds. The pharynx is that part that is present behind the nasal cavity and mouth and above the trachea and oesophagus.
Two apertures are present in the lower part of the pharynx –
- Glottis leads to trachea or windpipe and closed by bilobed leaf-like cartilage known as epiglottis during the swallowing of the food bolus.
- Gullet leads to the oesophagus or food pipe and it is normally closed. Oesophagus conducts food into the stomach by peristalsis.
- You will be amazed to know that it too contains taste buds.
- So from the above discussion it is clear that all the above-mentioned part of our mouth like palate, tongue and pharynx contain taste buds.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘D’.

Note: It is interesting to know that an individual can have around 2000 – 10000 taste buds.
Taste buds are continuously regenerating in our mouth. However, as we grow old fewer taste buds regenerate.