How does the tongue know if the food is too salty?

Salt less food will taste bland, but too much salt also makes the food to be too salty so it can not be consumed. Until now, the researchers have not been able to explain how the human brain and tongue can tell when a salinity level has crossed the line of savory foods that it becomes too salty.

Some things that taste good to us, like 
salt and sugar, can cross the line to "bad"  
when too much is used. (Picture from:  
http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/)

To answer these questions, a number of researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the United States, examining the process of measuring the level of salinity in fruit flies. With pitted the input from two types of the insect's different flavors sensory cells, that can measure the saltiness. Functions of the two cell types are mutually opposite. Type one makes flies attracted to salty foods, while other cell types actually keep them away from salty foods.

The research results are published in the Science journal on June 14, 2013. "The body needs sodium for important tasks, such as pushing muscle action and helps brain cells communicate with each other. But too much sodium can lead to heart problems and other health problems," said Yali Zhang, head of the research team at Johns Hopkins.

Zhang said to maintain their health, humans and animals considered food with a relatively low concentration of salt as delicious food, and avoid eating anything that is too high salinity.

To find out how to achieve a balance of the body, Zhang and his team examined the flies proboscis long and curved. The proboscis organ-like in the human equivalent of the tongue. The focus is on sensilla, the hairlike structure that serves as the proboscis taste bud or taste sensors on the flies.

The research team found that the receptor cells in the taste sensilla which is act as a puller and repellant that works like a tug of war contest. The winner will determine whether the flies will continue to eat or go away and find a more palatable food. At low concentrations, the puller signal will dominate the repellant signal, and send the message that the food was delicious. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SCIENCEDAILY | JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE | TJANDRA DEWI | KORAN TEMPO 4262]

Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.