Mouth and Taste Facts

 There are about 9,000 taste buds on the surface of the tongue, in the throat, and on the roof of the mouth. Taste buds contain chemoreceptors that respond to chemicals from food and other substances that are dissolved by the saliva in the mouth.

Our mouths produces 1 liter (1.8 pints) of saliva a day. We each produce about 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime. Saliva is required for taste. Until food is dissolved by saliva, we cannot taste it.

The average American eats 50 tons of food and drinks 50,000 liters (11,000 gallons) of liquid during his life. It also takes food seven seconds to go from the mouth to the stomach via the esophagus.