Taste and smell play a pivotal role in the chemosensory perception of food since they are fundamental determinants for the food selection and intake process . Biochemical compounds derived from food ingestion trigger the taste perception process through the binding with specific proteins known as taste receptors, located on the tongue's taste buds and dedicated to the recognition of the five basic tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami . Sweet taste is commonly associated with energy-rich food, to help identify sources of sugars and carbohydrates . Conversely, bitter taste is normally recognized as an unpleasant flavour and acts as a warning against potentially dangerous compounds 5 . Sour taste helps to detect spoiled food and identify the presence of biologically relevant vitamins . Salty taste is crucial to monitor the uptake of essential electrolytes, which play a central role in maintaining body osmosis .