The idea that specific tastes are confined to certain areas of the tongue is a myth that “persists in the collective consciousness despite decades of research debunking it.” Also wrong: the notion that taste is limited to the mouth.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMra2304578

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[–] explore_broaden@midwest.social 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

To our surprise, sweet taste receptors are expressed in most of the organs of the human body, including the stomach, pancreas, gut, liver, and brain

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fft2.407

There is utility to being able to detect the presence of the things different tastes are supposed to detect (protein, sugars, acid, salt, toxins) at various points in the digestive tract as well, so your body know when to do things like empty the stomach or release certain digestive enzymes in the gut. Or make you vomit if you eat something toxic.