Saliva has one of the most difficult roles to perform in the body. It must facilitate the taste and detection of foods nutritious to the body but also defend the mucosa from infection by the ever-present microbiota present in the mouth. It achieves these roles by having a complex composition and versatile physical properties. The protein and ion components make a solution that is 99% water into a viscoelastic solution capable of many roles, such as acting as a lubricant and an antimicrobial, preventing the dissolution of teeth, aiding digestion, and facilitating taste. This review describes the neural regulation of salivary secretion in terms of fluid, protein, and ion secretion. It then describes some of the components and physical properties of saliva and attempts to relate them to the functions that saliva must perform.

中文翻译：

---

唾液的分泌物，成分和性质。

唾液在体内具有最困难的作用之一。它必须有助于滋补和检测对人体有益的食物，还必须保护粘膜免受口腔中存在的微生物群的感染。它通过具有复杂的组成和多种物理特性来实现这些作用。蛋白质和离子成分将99％的水制成具有多种作用的粘弹性溶液，例如可以充当润滑剂和抗菌剂，防止牙齿溶解，帮助消化和促进味道。这篇综述从液体，蛋白质和离子分泌的角度描述了唾液分泌的神经调节。然后，它描述了唾液的某些成分和物理特性，并试图将它们与唾液必须执行的功能联系起来。