Seven Types of Tastes and Their Food Sources

An important factor in food is the taste that it provides to our taste buds. There are different types of tastes that satisfy our cravings for food. We sometimes like to have sweet recipes, sometimes want sour items and at other times salty items, like that. So, in addition to satisfying our hunger instinct, we are enjoying the taste of the food also whenever we consume food. Our taste of homemade recipes and that of eateries and restaurants provide us with varying and different kinds of tastes to satisfy our taste buds and give us a lot of joy in eating the food.

Let us have a look at the various types of tastes and wherefrom we can get those tastes naturally.

Different Types of Tastes With Examples

Primarily, food has been known as containing only four tastes as follows:

• Sweetness
• Sourness
• Bitterness
• Saltiness

Later, another taste was added -

• umami  or savory taste

But, we find some other types of tastes also like the hot or pungent taste, tangy taste, etc. while enjoying the food.

I am providing below, 7 types of major tastes that we experience in our daily lives along with their corresponding food sources.

Sweetness (मीठापन )

Sweetness is a pleasant sensation experienced as that of sugars, sucrose, and lactose, fructose and glucose, etc. The whole body experiences a pleasing atmosphere by consuming sweet foods.

Sweetness can be found naturally in sugar canes, most of the fruits, some of the flowers containing honey, and the honey derived from webs of honey bees, etc.

Sourness (खट्टापन )

Sourness is the taste that senses acidity. It is associated with hydrochloric acid, tartaric acid, and citric acid. Sourness sends sharp, instant sensations throughout the body.

Natural sources of sourness are citric fruits like lemon, lime, orange, grapes, tamarind, etc.

Bitterness (कडुवापन )

Bitterness is the most unpleasant taste that is normally avoided by most people. It is sharper than sourness and activates repellant reactions by our sensory organs. Most sensitive people may immediately vomit on consuming any bitter ingredient.

Items like bitter gourd, neem, wild varieties of vegetables, peels of some citrus fruits, coffee, and other caffeine ingredients are all known as natural sources for bitter taste.

Saltiness (नमकीन )

Saltiness is the presence of sodium and/or potassium ions (microparticles). When mixed with chlorine they become salty. Saltiness is one main requirement for cooking most of the food items. Without salt, food does not taste good or appealing to the senses.

The natural source for saltiness is seawater.

Umami Taste (दिलकश )

Umami is a Japanese word meaning a 'pleasant savory taste'. It is a strong meaty taste produced by amino acids. Umami can also be defined as deliciousness, scrumptiousness of splendidness. But umami in the sense of savory relates to spicy food taste. So, it is a salty and spicy taste that is pleasant to your senses than sweetness.

Umami taste is associated with that of tomatoes, some grains, beans, and soy sauce or cheese preparations.

Hot Taste or Pungent Taste (तीखापन )
Hotness or pungency is a taste that produces a burning sensation in the taste buds causing painful reactions. It produces heat especially in the forehead region causing perspiration besides burning feeling in the stomach and abdomen.

The sources of this taste are chilies or chili-pepper including green and red (dry), black pepper, ginger, radish, etc.

Tanginess (तीव्र या अम्लीय )
Tanginess is sometimes treated as a different kind of taste which is very sharp, biting, and acidic. But it seems more like bitterness and sourness.

Orange is shown as an example of tanginess taste.

Above are the major types of tastes in food that we can easily differentiate from one another. These food sources are consumed or need to be consumed by us during our daily food intake.