Advance toward an 'electronic tongue' with a taste for sweets
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - 06:00
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 colour 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 flavour. Their study was described today at the American Chemical Society's 238th National Meeting...
