Notes on the five tastes (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent)

The properties of things having different tastes, when taken internally, are given here in brief:—

1) A sweet thing is nutritive; it pacifies vayu and pitta, but increases mucus and other dirts in the system.

2) A sour thing increases the power of digestion, make the blood impure, increases pitta, but pacifies vayu.

3) A thing with a salty taste increases appetite, destroys semen, strength, and eye-sight, pacifies vayu, but increases phlegm and pitta.

4) A pungent thing increases vayu, pitta, and appetite; destroys phlegm, obesity, semen, etc, and causes constipation.

5) A bitter thing removes thirst, fever, pitta, phlegm, and impurities of the blood, increases vayu, but destroys blood, semen, flesh, etc. It is not to be taken in excess. (N. B. The use of quinine and such bitter things causes a waste of blood, semen, flesh, marrow, fat, and bone, leading to all sorts of diseases, especially chronic fever (Malaria and kala-azar), consumption, and paralysis.)

6) A thing with astringent taste destroys phlegm, blood, and pitta; it increases vayu.