Talk:Supertaster

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Contents 1 tetrachromat link? 2 Number of taste buds 3 Please make sure that "super taster" re-directs to here 4 Ref for PROP 5 BBC Supertasters 6 Huh?

[edit] tetrachromat link?

Why is tetrachromatacy a "see also" link from this entry. It is another interesting example of supranormal sensory discrimination but it not a human phenomena and seems like to tangential an assocition to be a branch off of supertaster.

Actually, human tetrachromats do exist, but they are very rare (google for "madame tetrachromat"). But given that supertasting is a normal, common occurrence, I agree that the inclusion of tetrachromat is curious.Jeh25 02:36, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Number of taste buds

I wrote the original version of this article, and very much wished to include specifics regarding the taste-bud density of supertasters vs. nontasters, but I got lots of different numbers from different sources that didn't seem to add up. Some sources said supertasters could have up to 1100 buds per cm, others said as low as 400. Nontasters ranged from 5 to 40. There were other, more reasonable-sounding figures, but I didn't want to introduce potentially exaggerated or non-factual information to the article. If anyone knows these figures from a trusted and reliable source, please include them! Thank you. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 21:44, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)

This is speculation, but it might be that some sources are talking about actual taste buds (of which the avarage human has about 10,000 according to the article), and others are talking about papillae, the protrusions on which the taste buds sit (these are much fewer). I don't have an accurate source for actual numbers, but keeping this in mind might aid in finding them. EldKatt (Talk) 15:24, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Yes, you are correct. Buds are housed in the papillae. Papillae can be easily counted non-destructively while buds may require excision to count. I don't have the time to add the info now, but here are the sources from which you can get the correct numbers.

Miller, I. J., Jr. and Reedy, F. E., Jr. (1990) Variations in human taste bud density and taste intensity perception. Physiol Behav, 47, 1213-1219.

Miller, I. J. and Reedy, F. E. (1990) Quantification of fungiform papillae and taste pores in living human subjects. Chem Senses, 15, 281-294.

Miller, I. J. and Bartoshuk, L. M. (1991) Taste Perception, Taste Bud Distribution, and Spatial Relationship. In Getchell, T. V. (ed.) Smell and taste in health and disease, 205-233.

Zuniga, J. R., Davis, S. H., Englehardt, R. A., Miller, I. J., Schiffman, S. S. and Phillips, C. (1993) Taste Performance on the Anterior Human Tongue Varies with Fungiform Taste Bud Density. Chemical Senses, 18, 449-460.

Hope this helps Jeh25 21:50, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Please make sure that "super taster" re-directs to here

Upon trying to re-find this page, I searched for "super taster", as in two words. Normally, WikiPedia is good at re-directing misspellings and uncommon spellings, but this one isn't implemented yet. Can someone who knows how to do this please do it?--Peter Knutsen 03:56, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

• A very reasonable request. Done. For help with making your own redirects, see Wikipedia:Redirect Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 11:21, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for the URL, I'll check it out.--Peter Knutsen 05:08, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ref for PROP

We need a reference for the assertion that propyluracil is used to distinguish between normal tasters and supertasters in research settings. JFW | T@lk 21:53, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

Have a look at Google[1]. EldKatt (Talk) 22:09, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] BBC Supertasters

link to BBC Supertasters is no good65.14.60.2 01:39, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Huh?

In the Identifying a Supertaster section, the text says "Supertasters were initially identified on the basis of the perceived intensity of PROP compared to a reference salt solution. However, because supertasters live in a larger taste world than medium or nontasters, this can cause scaling artifacts. Subsequently, salt has been replaced with a non-oral auditory standard." (emphasis mine)

How does "a non-oral auditory standard" make any sense? How does hearing have anything to do with tasting ability?

I agree, this needs more explanation to make any kind of sense to a lay reader, if in fact it isn't completely false. blodulv 21:47, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

I have have expanded text in the article to explain the logic behind using sound as a standard. Is it clear now?Jeh25 21:40, 15 February 2007 (UTC)