Taste science has attracted much attention in recent years， and the perception mechanism of sour， sweet， and bitter taste has been clarified. However， the relationship between salty taste perception mechanism and salty peptide is still in the stage of research and verification. The purpose of this review was to summarize and discuss the latest progress in the field of salty taste perception. Salty taste was a basic quality in taste， and its perception mechanism involved many participating processes， including salty taste receptors， signal transduction pathways， and brain neural networks. The salty receptors， such as ENaC， ASIC1， TRPV1， and TMC4 receptors， and their roles in salty taste perception were deeply discussed. The taste characteristics and preparation and identification techniques of animal-derived salty peptides were introduced. The application and challenges of salty peptides in the food industry were summarized. These studies were of great significance in exploring the salty taste perception， the mechanism of salty peptides， the preparation and industrial application of animal-derived salty peptides， the relationship between salty taste and health， and the promotion of salt reduction， and provide insights into the future development of this field.