Supertaster

[1] The term originated with experimental psychologist Linda Bartoshuk and is not the result of response bias or a scaling artifact but appears to have an anatomical or biological basis.

[9][10] In the 1960s, Roland Fischer was the first to link the ability to taste PTC, and the related compound propylthiouracil (PROP) to food preference, diet, and calorie intake.

[2][15] As a result of hundreds of studies exploring the detection threshold variation in taste sensitivity, the ability to taste the bitter compound phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) has become one of the best-known Mendelian traits in human populations, ranking alongside eye color and blood type in the canon of classic examples.

[16] In 2003, a significant breakthrough occurred when allelic variation in the bitter receptor gene TAS2R38 was identified as the molecular basis for differences in PTC detection thresholds.

This gene encodes a receptor on the tongue that binds to bitter compounds, influencing how strongly an individual perceives the taste of these substances.

[19] This seems intuitive, as polymorphisms in a specific bitter receptor gene are unlikely to account for heightened responses across multiple taste qualities, oral somatosensation, and retronasal olfaction.

Supertasters were initially identified based on the perceived intensity of propylthiouracil (PROP) compared to a reference salt solution.

[32] Many studies do not include a cross-modal reference and categorize individuals based on the bitterness of a concentrated PROP solution[33][34] or PROP-impregnated paper.