Taste

There are thousands of taste buds on a person’s tongues as well as on the sides and roof of the mouth. Aging causes the taste buds to begin to disappear from the sides and roof of the mouth, leaving taste buds mostly on an individual’s tongue. The remaining taste buds eventually become less sensitive. These are called papillae, and there are four kinds of them: fungiform and filiform on the front half, and foliate and vallate on the back. The actual taste buds cluster together in packs of two to 250 within the papillae (Lembert, 2000).  The changes in an older person's sense of smell further changes the ability to taste foods. Taste buds decline with age with the ability to taste sweets declining first, followed by salty, then bitter, and last sour (Changes in Taste, 2009).