Von Ebner's glands, also called Ebner's glands or gustatory glands, are

exocrine gland Exocrine glands are glands that secrete substances on to an epithelial surface by way of a duct. Examples of exocrine glands include sweat, salivary, mammary, ceruminous, lacrimal, sebaceous, prostate and mucous. Exocrine glands are one ...

s found in the mouth. More specifically, they are

serous In physiology, serous fluid or serosal fluid (originating from the Medieval Latin word ''serosus'', from Latin ''serum'') is any of various body fluids resembling serum, that are typically pale yellow or transparent and of a benign nature. The fl ...

salivary glands The salivary glands in mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva through a system of ducts. Humans have three paired major salivary glands ( parotid, submandibular, and sublingual), as well as hundreds of minor salivary glands. Salivary gl ...

which reside adjacent to the moats surrounding the circumvallate and foliate papillae just anterior to the posterior third of the tongue, anterior to the terminal sulcus. These glands are named after Victor von Ebner, an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

histologist. Von Ebner's glands secrete lingual lipase, beginning the process of

lipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids in ...

hydrolysis Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolysi ...

in the mouth. These glands empty their serous secretion into the base of the moats around the foliate and circumvallate papillae. This secretion presumably flushes material from the mouth to enable the taste buds to respond rapidly to changing stimuli. Von Ebner's glands are innervated by cranial nerve IX, the

glossopharyngeal The glossopharyngeal nerve (), also known as the ninth cranial nerve, cranial nerve IX, or simply CN IX, is a cranial nerve that exits the brainstem from the sides of the upper medulla, just anterior (closer to the nose) to the vagus nerve. B ...

nerve.

References

External links

''Anton Gilbert Viktor Ebner, Ritter von Rofenstein'' entry @ whonamedit.com
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at University of Southern California Glands of mouth {{anatomy-stub