The question as it is posed is nonsensical. In chemistry, an element is a pure substance consisting only of atoms which all have the same number of protons in their nuclei; it cannot be further broken down into simpler substances by a chemical reaction.
Taste is a completely biological concept, an interaction between our taste bud receptors and a combination of many elements making up the substance we are tasting. Pure elements don’t exist in nature to be tasted, so our taste receptors aren’t made to react to them. In fact, most elements would be poisonous, as well as not taste anything.
The human tongue contains between 2,000 and 10,000 taste buds, each of which are made up of 50 to 150 taste receptor cells. These cells contain receptors, microvilli called taste hairs, which extend upward inside the taste pore. The microvilli come into contact with tastants, or taste stimulating compounds, dissolved in oral saliva after intake/mastication, which enter the taste pore. They interact at the microscopic level through protein receptors or ion channels. Then the chemical stimuli are transduced through the sensory cell and the electric impulse is conducted to the brainstem by the afferent gustatory nerve fibers.
There are five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. 762
A high concentration of Na+/sodium ions in the saliva causes the gustatory epithelial cells to depolarize and release neurotransmitters, interpreted by the brain as a salty taste. Sour tastes occur in a similar process, by direct diffusion of ions, but in response to high H+/Hydrogen ion concentrations, that is, acids. Sour-detecting gustatory cells will depolarise as the concentrations increase. Sweet taste involves the detection of sugars, such as glucose and monosaccharides, by special G-protein coupled receptors rather than direct diffusion of ions. Likewise, bitter taste is the detection of long-chain organic compounds known as alkaloids which contain basic nitrogen ions. Umami taste is a detection of certain amino acids such as glutamine and may be loosely considered as the “taste of proteins”. Hot and spicy flavors are actually pain/temperature sensations caused by the substance called “capsaicin” in food, binding to thermoreceptors whose function is to prevent burning of the mouth and tongue.
Chemical properties do define/direct taste, though not of elements, but of substances, a combination of elements. I would add that any food contains a great number of flavor components , chocolate alone contains over 800. No food is only sweet or only sour, etc… This is what makes tasting so interesting! 762