The sixth taste receptor is for fat

It is widely known for a long time that the human tongue notices four kinds of taste: acidic, salty, sweet and bitter. Since 2000 there is also a fifth flavor known: the taste which detects glutamic acid, called umami. In nature glutamic acid is found predominantly in meat. Recently scientists have found a sixth taste receptor on the tongue. It detects fat in food. The researchers from Munich and Berlin reported this finding in scientific journal Chemical Senses. Up to this discovery it was assumed that fat is perceived by humans indirectly. This new fact explains why many fatty foods are so in demand. 

 

Source: Gallindo MM. et al., Chemical Senses, published online 25. Aug 2011, DOI 10.1093/chemse/BJR069, and Chaudhari N. et al., (2000). "A metabotropic glutamate receptor variant functions as a taste receptor". Nature Neuroscience 3 (2): 113–119, doi:10.1038/72053
Found for you by Dr. Maria Peterson