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Asked by anon-207522 to Silvia, Scott, Oliver, Natalie, Michelle, Lowri on 13 Mar 2019.
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Natalie Lamb answered on 13 Mar 2019:
Water itself doesn’t seem to have a taste in that it does not activate the tongue’s taste receptors in the same way that sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami do. If it doesn’t activate those receptors then it doesn’t have a taste to us. But actually scientists have recently discovered that water does have a “taste”! A study analysed mice’s tongues while they drank water and found that the sour receptor was activated. There has to be a sensor that senses water, so we choose the right fluid to drink and so we know we are drinking. But even though sour sensors on the tongue are activated water has no flavour because of the way in which the receptor is activated.
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Scott Graham answered on 15 Mar 2019:
this is a good question and it appear there is mixed answers about this. some people believe that water has no taste as our tongues doesnt have any receptors for water. Others believe that when you drink water it actually triggers the sour receptors on your tongue.
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Oliver Andrews answered on 15 Mar 2019: last edited 15 Mar 2019 10:09 am
It’s a very good question. This probably has to do with the lack of receptors on the tongue to taste water. It kind of makes sense given how much water is in our bodies and in our mouths. If we could taste water these sensors would always be activated by our saliva etc!
Also what if it is an evolutionary advantage? Not tasting water might mean we can pick up the tastes of impurities in water more easily!
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