Astringent (taste)
Astringent is a taste that puckers the mouth, numbs the tongue, and constricts the throat. This taste is caused by astringents such as tannins.
The astringent taste is in unripened bananas, unripe persimmons and acorns dominantly, which prevents them from being eaten.
Squirrels, wild boars, and insects can eat astringent food as their tongues are able to handle the taste.
In Ayurveda, astringent is the sixth taste represented by "air and earth".
Smoking may also cause astringent taste.
