Comparison of intensities and binary interactions of four basic tastes between an electronic tongue and a human tongue

Abstract

For detection of single taste intensities and binary interactions using an electronic tongue (E-tongue) and the human tongue (H-tongue), the 4 basic flavor substances of sucrose, caffeine, citric acid, and sodium chloride were used. A linear fit was performed using response values of the E-tongue and concentrations of the basic tastes. The taste intensity of the E-tongue was positively correlated with sour and salty substances, but negatively correlated with sweet and bitter substances. All taste intensities were positively correlated with the 4 flavor substances using the H-tongue. A mathematical model of the 4 taste substances on both the E-tongue and H-tongue exhibited a semi-logarithmic form. There were synergistic, dampening, or offset effects on the taste intensity of each flavor substance in binary systems. H-tongue and E-tongue results were consistent for sweet/bitter and salt/sour interactions. H-tongue and E-tongue results were contradictory for salt/sweet and sweet/sour interactions.