Electronic Tongue: A New Dimension in Sensory Analysis

Instrument complements use of the electronic nose for sensory analysis of food flavor by measuring nonvolatile flavor components

Food Technology Magazine | Article

TSUNG TAN, VINCENT SCHMITT,

SANDRINE ISZ

In recent years, instruments called “electronic noses” have been routinely used for odor control and aroma analysis in the food, beverage, chemical, and packaging industries. The electronic nose is an instrument designed to replicate the human olfactory system. It consists of an array of chemical sensors, each with a partial specificity to a wide range of odorant molecules, coupled with a suitable pattern recognition system (Bartlett et al., 1997; Anonymous, 2000).

Several qualitative and quantit…



Fig. 1—The Astree electronic tongue system includes sensors and associated interface electronics, pattern-recognition software and instrument control on a personal computer, and a 16-position autosampler

Fig. 2—Analogy between human sensory evaluation and the electronic tongue. Both need to be trained with a correctly selected sample set to ensure good recognition and reproducibility

Fig. 3—Raw sensor responses (at equilibrium) for five compounds and two sensors with different sensitivity

Fig. 4—PCA map of five batches of two types of beers. The x-axis separates the two types of beers, and the y-axis shows differences between the batches

Fig. 5—SIMCA results for beers containing a high level of DMS. Results within the rectangular box conform to the gold standard, and samples outside this area have a high DMS level

Fig. 6—PLS calibration curve shows good linearity of predicted bitterness units vs actual units. An r2 of O.99 was achieved

Fig. 8—Results of analysis of apple juice by sensory experts, electronic nose, and electronic tongue, showing the relationship between sensory and instrumental measurements

Premium Content
You've reached your monthly limit of free articles.
Access Food Technology
Log in Subscribe

In This Article

  1. Food Processing & Packaging
  2. Food Processing & Packaging
  3. Processing Equipment
  4. Food Sciences
  5. Sensory Science
  6. Food Ingredients and Additives
  7. Colors

Food Technology Articles right arrow

How to Build Food Safety Into R&D

Peak Protein: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science

Building Community Through Engagement

Mushrooms for Mood, Postbiotic Benefits, and More Ingredient News

Outlook 2025: Flavor Trends

IFT Podcasts right arrow

EP 11: The Challenge of Water

EP 1: Strategies to Communicate the Value of Sensory Science

Episode 28: Spicing Up the Future of Food

up arrow Top