Int J Oral Biol.  2022 Dec;47(4):49-54. 10.11620/IJOB.2022.47.4.49.

Salty taste: the paradoxical taste

• Choi IS
• Kim KN

• KMID: 2538494
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11620/IJOB.2022.47.4.49

Abstract

Taste is a basic sensation to get attracted toward nutritious foods or avoid possible harmful substances. The basic taste qualities in humans consist of sweet, bitter, umami, salty, and sour. Basically, sweet and umami tastes make food attractive, whereas bitter and sour tastes make it avoidable. Salty taste comprises basic salty and high salt taste. The basic salty taste is known as amiloride-sensitive salty taste, which is inhibited by amiloride, but the high salt taste is not sensitive to amiloride. Moreover, high salt taste can also cause avoidance behavior in human beings. Sodium, one of the most important cations in the body fluids of vertebrates, controls the volume of total body fluids and is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension. The concentration of sodium in body fluids must be under delicate control. A distinction between the salty taste and high salt taste would be a contributing mechanism to control the volume and/or osmolarity of body fluids.

Keyword

Taste; Salty taste; High salt taste; Epithelial sodium channel