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Overview
The sense of taste (五感/みかく, mikaku) is one of the five senses of life forms. It is produced mainly by chemical substances dissolved in saliva that stimulate the tongue. The five basic tastes (basic taste senses) are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savoriness.
These tastes are the system for taking in nutrients that are essential for survival, and they also have a defensive function to prevent the ingestion of decaying or poisonous substances.
Culturally, pungency (actually pain) is added to the five basic tastes.
