Scientists have discovered that water actually has a taste. The five main tastes are sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umani. Studies have been completed in which scientists shut down different parts of the tongue’s taste buds to see which buds were receptive to the water flavor. When the sour taste cells were blocked, the perception of water was also blocked. This means that the tongue is able to detect the various minerals and vitamins within the water.

Key Takeaways:

• Water, it’s been discovered has a sour taste, nonetheless different from the five accepted tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.
• This discovery came about due to research done at Caltech, led by associate professor Yuki Oka.
• Because it’s been known that insects can taste water, it’s been assumed mammals could too.

“The tongue can detect various key nutrient factors, called tastants— such as sodium, sugar, and amino acids—through taste, however, how we sense water in the mouth was unknown”

Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/water-does-actually-have-a-flavour-study_uk_59352e30e4b0c242ca257a4d