The astringent taste is a pungent, tingly, and drying sensation that some people find unpleasant. The astringency you experience when having foods like persimmons or green tea may be due to plant compounds in these foods that bind with proteins in your saliva. This reduces the natural lubrification of your mouth.

Is astringent bitter?

Bitterness and astringency are often associated with each other but they can occur independently. The easiest way to tell them apart is to remember that bitter is a taste while astringency is a feeling. ... Astringency is most often felt as roughness on the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

What does an astringent do in the mouth?

Astringency is described as a “dry puckering-like sensation” in the mouth following consumption of tannins including tea polyphenols. The current model describing astringency is based on precipitation of salivary proline-rich proteins by polyphenols and/or altered salivary lubrication.