Write an article on Salivary Secretion and Taste

Write an article on Salivary Secretion and Taste. It needs to be at least 1250 words. A pair of sub-lingual glands situated in the lower part of the mouth, one on either side of the tongue. These are the smallest of the three types of salivary glands. The secretions of all salivary glands are collectively called saliva. The saliva contains an enzyme called salivary amylase or ptyalin that helps in breaking the starch to maltose, dextrin and limit destrin. However, the secretion of saliva is influenced by several factors. The differential rates of secretion rates of saliva were reported by some investigators. It was reported that epidermal growth factors (EGF) of tongue influence the secretion rate. The elevated rate of salivary EGF secretion in juvenile periodontitis patients was found and was associated with the pathogenetic mechanisms of juvenile periodontitis.

At the same time, the taste of any substance is decided by taste buds located on the tongue. For example, the tip of the tongue gives a sweet taste, sides give a sour taste, salty at edges near the tip and bitter at the distal end gives taste. Keeping these in view, the present experiment was conducted with the following objectives.

To study and analyze the factors affecting the secretion of saliva at different times &nbsp.and To study the mechanism of the functional aspects of taste receptors in our mouth

Methods, As the saliva secretion is said to be influenced by chewing, acid and exercise, one male subject, who stood 5 foot 9 inches tall, was selected for the study and was tested under four different conditions. The saliva was collected from the subject during the times of rest, chewing water, chewing 1 crystal of citric acid and exercise. The saliva was collected in a beaker, and then this was transferred to a measuring cylinder, by a syringe, to measure how much saliva was collected. The way the measurement was taken was by measuring under the froth of the saliva was.