Eating is a highly complicated process of food oral processing， including oral manipulation， transportation， sensation and other oral and brain actions. Tongue is the main oral element which plays a key role in all these oral actions. Due to complex physiology and limited access of the oral cavity， the operating functions and controlling mechanisms of human tongue is still not fully understood. Especially the dynamic change of food structure and sensory perception during food oral processing remains unclear. This review article will firstly summarize the physiological features of human tongue and then analyze the functions and mobility of human tongue during food oral processing， in order to explain the physical （mixing， transporting， extracting and pressing， etc）， chemical sensation （tastes）， physical sensation （cool / warm， position， texture， shape and form， etc）， swallowing （bolus formation and manipulation） and etc. It is hoped that the review will provide theoretical bases for the development of novel techniques for in vitro evaluation of food quality.