LINDA BARTOSHUK,DIRECTOR OF PSYCHOPHYSICAL
RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
BIG MOUTH
unlocking the secrets
of supertasters
as told to Jessica Boddy / illustration by Pedro PiccininiGrowing up in the 1940s, I wanted to be an astronomer. But
the field wasn’t very welcoming to women, so I pivoted to the
study of human sensory experiences instead. I accidentally
opened up a whole new realm of research.
It started with my interest in taste blindness, a condition
where people with fewer taste buds have trouble perceiving
certain flavors. I devised an experiment to test subjects’ ability
to discern bitterness. I expected to find two groups: those who
would sense the acridity, and those who would not. To my sur-
prise, I found a third group who experienced such flavors two to
three times more intensely than anyone else.We now know these “supertasters” have extra taste buds.
But there’s also something unique happening in their brains
that we have yet to pinpoint. Decoding these abilities could
improve the lives of supertasters, who sometimes find bitter
vegetables so unpalatable that they face higher risks of colon
cancer due to a lack of plant fiber in their diets. It could also
help the rest of us by offering insight into how people interpret
flavor—and maybe even getting kids to enjoy their veggies.