Taste Oceania

The Visual Analysis of Taste is Now Possible!

The Insent TS-5000Z analyser employs the same sensory tastes as that of the human tongue, including sourness, bitterness, astringency, umami, saltiness and sweetness, converting these tastes into numerical data, using unique measurement technology and advanced proprietary analysis tools for objective evaluation of taste.

What is a Taste Analyser?

What is a sensor?

Sensors are devices that receive stimuli commonly detected by the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. They can be categorized into two types: physical sensors and chemical sensors. A physical sensor is a device that detects physical quantities, including light, pressure and sound. They have been in use for many years because they are based on relatively simple principles. In contrast, a chemical sensor is a device that detects chemical substances and represents a certain quality. For example, a pH meter is a chemical sensor that responds only to protons, and therefore it high selectivity. However, because there are thousands of taste substances, high selectivity to a single tastant is inappropriate for a taste sensor.

Response principle of taste sensors

Response principle

A taste sensor is required to exhibit global selectivity so that it responds consistently to the same taste similarly to the human tongue. After years of research with Prof. Toko's group at Kyushu University, Japan, we have successfully developed taste sensors based on an artificial lipid membrane that consistently responds to similar taste. Figure 1 shows the response principle of taste sensors.

The lipid in the taste sensor interacts with various taste materials via electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, which causes a change in potential of the lipid membrane. The change is detected by a computer to provide a sensor output.

Measurement procedure

Figure 2 shows the measurement procedure, which is called the CPA measurement method, used to monitor changes in the membrane potential over time.

Process 1: First, the taste sensor is immersed in a reference solution of 30 mM KCl and 0.3 mM tartaric acid to obtain the membrane potential, Vr. The reference solution has almost no taste and is used in this system as an alternative to human saliva.

Process 2: Second, the taste sensor is immersed in the sample solution to obtain the potential, Vs. The difference in potential (Vs ? Vr), called the relative value, should approximate the initial taste upon sensory evaluation, including its sourness and saltiness.

Process 3: Third, the taste sensor is rinsed lightly with the reference solution.

Process 4: After rinsing, it is immersed in the reference solution again to obtain the potential, Vr’. The difference in potential (Vr’ ? Vr), called the CPA (change of membrane potential caused by adsorption), provides data on the adsorption of bitter and astringent substances.

Process 5: Finally, the taste sensor is rinsed well in alcohol solution to remove adsorbed substances from the membrane before the next sample is measured.

Figure 2.　Measurement procedure

Taste sensors and taste information

Each taste sensor developed by our specific and innovative technologies has global selectivity to a taste quality, so sensor outputs can be converted to taste information that helps distinguish differences in both taste quality and intensity between samples.

Table 1 shows the list of taste sensors and the related taste information.

Table 1.　Taste sensors and the related taste information

Taste information		Sensor	Characteristic	Targets
Initial taste (Relative value)	Sourness	CA0	sourness produced by citric acid and tartaric acid	beer, coffee
	Saltiness	CT0	saltiness evoked by dietary salts	soy sauce, soup, stock sauce
	Umami	AAE	umami (savoriness) by amino acids and nucleic acids	soup, stock sauce, meat
	Acidic bitterness	C00	bitterness derived by bitter substances found in foodstuffs and beverages, but can also be perceived richness with its concentration being low	bean curd, stock sauce, soup
	Astringency	AE1	pungent taste by astringent taste materials	wine, tea
	Sweetness	GL1	sweetness produced by sugars and sugar alcohols	sweets, drink
Aftertaste (CPA value)	Aftertaste from acidic bitterness	C00	aftertaste by bitter taste materials	beer, coffee
	Aftertaste from astringency	AE1	aftertaste by astringent taste materials	wine, tea
	Richness	AAE	richness, also called “continuity,” evoked by umami substances	soup, stock sauce, meat
	Aftertaste from basic bitterness	AC0 AN0	bitterness of medicines	basic drugs (such as quinine hydrochloride, famotidine)
	Aftertaste from hydrochloride salts	BT0	bitterness of medicines	hydrochloride drugs

Application data

The taste sensors developed by INSENT has many applications for foods, beverages and pharmaceuticals.

* Aftertaste-A; Aftertaste from astringency, Aftertaste-B; Aftertaste from acidic bitterness

Radar chart for beer

Radar chart for soy sauce

Learn more about the Taste Analysers applications ›