Observations and results
Did you find that people had different amounts of papillae, and that most people were not supertasters?

Typically when people do this activity if they have more than about 30 fungiform papillae they are considered a supertaster, if they have around 15 to 30 papillae they are an average taster, and if they have fewer than 15 papillae they are a non-taster. Although the percentages vary around the world and with different populations of people, around 25 to 30 percent of people are thought to be supertasters, 40 to 50 percent average tasters, and 25 to 30 percent non-tasters. (If you tested only five people, you may not have seen that around 1-2 people, or about 25 to 30 percent, were supertasters because of the small sample size. Additionally, if you only used genetically related family members this may have skewed the results as well since there is a genetic component to how many taste buds a person has.) Testing a person's sensitivity to a bitter chemical called 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) is a more definitive way to determine if he or she is a supertaster; non-tasters can't taste PROP, but supertasters can and really don't like its bitter taste! Average tasters can taste it too, but its bitter taste is not strong enough to bother them.

More to explore
Science of Supertasters from BBC Science
Sensing Fat from Beverly J. Tepper and Kathleen L. Keller at The Scientist
What are Taste Buds? from KidsHealth
Do You Love the Taste of Food? Find Out if You're a Supertaster! from Science Buddies

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