Question

If you take a bite of something that is highly unappealing (for example meat that tastes rotten) what is the response of the salivary glands? What does this tell us about the regulation of digestive enzyme secretion from the salivary glands?

Answer 1

The salivary glands are monitored by the autonomic nervous system. The smell, sight, or taste of the food instigates the discharging of saliva from the salivary glands. Thus, if an unappealing food is put in the mouth, the sympathetic nervous system gets stimulated and the discharging of saliva ceases. This demonstrates that the monitoring of digestive enzyme secretion from the salivary glands is not voluntary and is controlled by autonomic nervous system.