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Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Taste Exam: A Brief and Validated Test
Published on: August 17, 2018
Extraoral Taste Receptor Discovery: New Light on Ayurvedic Pharmacology
Marilena Gilca1, Dorin Dragos2,3
1Biochemistry Department, Faculty of General Medicine, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, B-dul "Eroilor Sanitari" No. 8, Sector 6, 76241 Bucharest, Romania.
Abstract:
More and more research studies are revealing unexpectedly important roles of taste for health and pathogenesis of various diseases. Only recently it has been shown that taste receptors have many extraoral locations (e.g., stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, respiratory system, heart, brain, kidney, urinary bladder, pancreas, adipose tissue, testis, and ovary), being part of a large diffuse chemosensory system. The functional implications of these taste receptors widely dispersed in various organs or tissues shed a new light on several concepts used in ayurvedic pharmacology (dravyaguna vijnana), such as taste (rasa), postdigestive effect (vipaka), qualities (guna), and energetic nature (virya). This review summarizes the significance of extraoral taste receptors and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels for ayurvedic pharmacology, as well as the biological activities of various types of phytochemical tastants from an ayurvedic perspective. The relative importance of taste (rasa), postdigestive effect (vipaka), and energetic nature (virya) as ethnopharmacological descriptors within Ayurveda boundaries will also be discussed.
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