Taste bud

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Taste buds
Taste buds are small structures present within the papillae of the tongue
Details
System	Taste
Identifiers
Latin	caliculus gustatererius
MeSH	D013650
NeuroLex ID	birnlex_4101
TA98	A15.4.00.002
TA2	7037
TH	H3.04.01.0.02116, H3.04.01.0.03013
FMA	54825
Anatomical terms of microanatomy [edit on Wikidata]

Taste buds are clusters of taste receptor cells, which are also known as gustatory cells.

On average, the human tongue has 2,000–8,000 taste buds.[2] The average lifespan of these is estimated to be 10 days.^[3]

Types of papillae

The taste buds on the tongue sit on raised protrusions of the tongue surface called papillae. There are four types of

• Fungiform papillae - as the name suggests, these are slightly mushroom
  -shaped if looked at in longitudinal section. These are present mostly at the dorsal surface of the tongue, as well as at the sides. Innervated by facial nerve.
• Foliate papillae - these are ridges and grooves towards the posterior part of the tongue found at the lateral borders. Innervated by facial nerve (anterior papillae) and glossopharyngeal nerve
  (posterior papillae).
• Von Ebner's glands
  , and are innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerve.
• keratinisation
  and are involved in the mechanical aspect of providing abrasion.