Quantification of fungiform papillae and taste pores in living human subjects

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Abstract
A method developed to quantify taste buds in living human subjects to study the relationship between taste sensitivity and taste bud distribution was used to count the taste buds in 10 human subjects; fungiform papillae were mapped in 12 subjects. Taste buds were identified by staining taste pores with methylene blue, and images of the papillae and their taste pores were obtained with videomicroscopy and an image processor. Fungiform papillae showed a 3.3-fold range in density, from 22.1 to 73.6 papillae/cm 2 with an average of 41.1 ± 16.8/cm 2 (s.d., n = 2). There was a 14-fold range in taste pore density, from 36 to 511 pores/cm 2 among subjects, with an average of 193 ± 133/cm 2 (s.d., n = 10). Fungiform papillae contained from 0 to 22 taste pores, with an average per subject of 3.75 ± 1.4 taste pores/papilla (s.d., n = 10). We hypothesize that some differences in human taste sensitivity may be related to these variations in taste bud density.