A friend of mine claims never to taste the bitterness of certain salad
greens which are always unbearable to me.  I'm wondering if this
dramatic
difference between us could be related to the hereditary trait tested
for in
many high school biology classes when students find out whether they
can
taste PTC paper or not.  People either taste this PTC stuff or they
don't;
there's nothing in between.  I was a taster, and the awful bitterness
of
that paper, to me, is not unlike that of some greens.

If there is this link between being PTC tasting and non-tasting and
how one
tastes those greens, would the instincto interpretation be that the
physiology of tasters is unable to handle PTC (or whatever key part of
the
molecule produces the taste) and that they are therefore being
protected
from it by getting that horrible taste?  Or could non-tasters be
eating
things they shouldn't because of some.. mutation?  (No dig at
non-tasters
intended. :D)  Just thought it was interesting.

Carol