ABSTRACT
TASTE BUDS Taste is the responsibility of taste buds found on the surface of the tongue. They are specialized for sweet, salty, bitter, and sour tastes, with the four types of taste buds restricted to different parts of the tongue. Local thickenings of the tongue epithelium are the first indications of the taste buds. Although considered to be derived from endoderm, some taste buds are located in presumably ectodermal areas. Some of the cells in the epithelial thickenings differentiate into slender taste cells, whereas others become nonsensory, columnar, supporting cells (see Fig. 17-13C).
