Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T08:37:27.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Other methods to measure taste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2009

Kiyoshi Toko
Affiliation:
Kyushu University, Japan
Get access

Summary

Impedance measurement

A multichannel taste sensor using lipid/polymer membranes based on the measurement of electric potential responds to taste in a manner similar to a human gustatory sensation but with better reproducibility and higher resolution. The sensor output is similar for chemical substances producing similar taste qualities and is very different for those producing different types of taste. The taste sensor is effective in discriminating and quantifying the taste of foodstuffs such as coffee, beer, sake, mineral water and milk. The taste of amino acids was also quantified using the multichannel taste sensor. These results may provide an objective scale of human sensory expressions.

Whereas the taste sensor based on potentiometry can detect nonelectrolytes and weak electrolytes, the sensor outputs are smaller than those for strong electrolytes such as NaCl and HCl. This is because the electric potential response in lipid membranes of the taste sensor is dependent on changes of the surface potential produced by the diffuse electric double layer, and nonelectrolytes and weak electrolytes have very little effect on the electric double layer, even if they are bound to the membrane. In general, it is considered that physicochemical interactions such as binding to lipids affect the structure of lipid/polymer membranes. Consequently, it may be possible to detect such interactions by measuring changes in membrane impedance composed of electric resistance and electric capacitance. The studies described below involve measuring changes in the impedance of lipid/polymer membranes by the application of chemical substances which produce a taste.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×