Astringent

An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin adstringere, which means "to bind fast". Astringency, the dry, puckering or numbing mouthfeel caused by the tannins in unripe fruits, lets the fruit mature by deterring eating. Tannins, being a kind of polyphenol, bind salivary proteins and make them precipitate and aggregate, producing a rough, "sandpapery", or dry sensation in the mouth.

Squirrels, wild boars, and insects can eat astringent food as their mouths are developed to be resistant to its effects.

In Ayurveda, astringent is the sixth taste (after sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter) represented by "air and earth".

Smoking tobacco is also reported to have an astringent effect.

In a scientific study, astringency was still detectable by subjects who had local anesthesia applied to their taste nerves, but not when both these and the trigeminal nerves were disabled.