Xerostomia is common in middle-aged and elderly patients. In rodents, adipose tissue increases around the aging parotid gland (PG). Triglycerides are stored in adipose tissue and metabolized into fatty acids and glycerol as needed in the cells. It has been reported that CD36, a fatty acid transporter, is expressed on the tongue and plays a role in some taste sensations through the uptake of dietary fatty acids such as palmitic acid. However, there are few reports on CD36 in salivary glands. In this study, we investigated the role of CD36 in salivary secretion using male mice. In salivary glands of BALB/c mice, CD36 mRNA was highly expressed in the PG compared with submandibular and sublingual glands. The mice pretreated with a CD36 inhibitor showed decreased muscarinic agonist-induced salivary secretion at 8 and 48 weeks but not 72 weeks of age. In vitro [³H]-palmitic acid uptake assay, the amount of [³H] from isolated PG of mice at 8 weeks of age was significantly reduced in the CD36 inhibitor-pretreated group. In highly aged mice, senescence-accelerated mice of 56 weeks of age, there was no change in salivary secretion after pretreatment with CD36 inhibitor due to low protein expression of PG CD36. These results suggest that the importance of PG CD36 in mouse salivary secretion changes with age.