Advance toward an 'electronic tongue' with a taste for sweets
Monday, August 17, 2009 - 15:56
in Mathematics & Economics
In a new approach to an effective "electronic tongue" that mimics human taste, scientists in Illinois are reporting development of a small, inexpensive, lab-on-a-chip sensor that quickly and accurately identifies sweetness - one of the five primary tastes. It can identify with 100 percent accuracy the full sweep of natural and artificial sweet substances, including 14 common sweeteners, using easy-to-read color markers. This sensory "sweet-tooth" shows special promise as a simple quality control test that food processors can use to ensure that soda pop, beer, and other beverages taste great, - with a consistent, predictable flavor. Their study was described here today at the American Chemical Society's 238th National Meeting.