Taste reception in the goat, sheep and calf

Abstract

The goat, sheep and calf have gustatory chemoreceptors which respond to salt, sweet, sour and bitter solutions, from which the afferent fibers pass centrally in the chorda tympani and glossopharyngeal nerves. Action potentials in the afferent gustatory nerves can also be detected when the tongue is irrigated with sodium bicarbonate, ethylene glycol, glycerine, and saccharine. Distilled water reduces the background activity in the isolated gustatory nerves, thus demonstrating the absence of fibers in ruminant ungulates of receptors which respond to stimulation by distilled water. The responses from the chemoreceptors, associated especially with the circumvallate papillae, are enhanced if the papillae are gently moved at the time of irrigation with sapid solutions, The chorda tympani is most responsive to salt and acid solutions while the glossopharyngeal is more responsive to sugars, quinine and acid.