Are you a 'supertaster'?

About a quarter of the population has an especially sensitive sense of taste. What does it mean, and how can you find out if you're one of them?If you're passionate about an art form, be it musical, visual or culinary, it can be galling when others claim to feel your beloved medium more intensely than you. Oh please, you might silently harrumph, you can't prove that. And anyway, I can't hear a note of the Carpenters without my Adam's apple bobbing meaningfully, so bog off.But when it comes to tasting, superior sensitivity can actually be proven. A quick test could reveal you to be what sensory perception scientists refer to as a supertaster, medium taster or – oh dear – a non-taster. The basic laboratory assessment involves tasting a drug called propylthiouracil (commonly known as PROP), which is normally used to treat an overactive thyroid. If you find it very bitter, this means you're a supertaster.Test it yourselfThis questionnaire has been used to help identify supertasters, although I worry these quizzes are too easy to cheat by simply guessing which answer will lead to your desired outcome. It's far more fun to count your fungiform papillae, which house your taste receptors. If you apply some blue food colour to the tip of your tongue, where they're at their most dense, the raised papillae should stay pink and stand out more. Hold a ring-binder re-enforcer over your tongue and count the dots within the circle. If you tally over 30, then: congratulations, you're a su...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Blogposts guardian.co.uk Food & drink Life and style Food science Source Type: news