The tongue is a sense organ that helps in identifying the taste of the food that we eat with the help of taste receptor cells. We normally identify sweet, sour, bitter and umami(a taste in protein-rich food).
Sour means, it has an acidic ph of (0 to 7)and bitter means alkaline ph of (7 to 14).
Of all the five basic taste bitter is considered the most sensitive and is often considered as unpleasant.
Bitter melon, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, dandelion greens, peels of citrus fruits are examples of bitterness. Apart from this coffee and some chocolates also have a bitter taste.
Sourness and acidity can often be associated together. We find sour taste in food such as orange, lemon, tamarind, vinegar, gooseberries, Kimchi, Yogurt.
Sourness depends on the amount of organic acid the food contains.
Bitter |
Sour |
Refers to the sharp pungent taste |
Refers to acidic taste |
Quite unpleasant taste |
Not so unpleasant |
Some examples are bitter gourd, olive, peel of orange and coffee etc |
Examples oranges, lemon, vinegar etc |
Helps to detoxify the body |
Increases mineral absorption |
Bitterness is due to a chemical compound called quinine |
Sourness is mainly due to the presence of organic acids in our food |