Application of electronic tongue for fresh foods quality evaluation: A review

ABSTRACT

Fresh foods occupy an important position in the human diet. A growing number of consumers are attracted by fresh foods due to their high nutritional value, healthy image, and appealing taste. Electronic tongue based on the concept of global selectivity is a sensor technology that has developed rapidly since last century (1998). Compared with human panelists, it has the advantages of measuring toxic substances, conducting objective analysis and having no detection fatigue. In this paper, the principle, types, and characteristics of electronic tongue are described. The application of electronic tongue to measure sensory and safety index is discussed. Finally, the development of miniaturization of electronic tongues is presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Electronic tongue
• potentiometry
• voltammetry
• impedance
• sensory indices
• safety indices

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by China Key Research Programs (Contracts No. 2017YFD0400901 and No. 2017YFD0400501), Jiangsu Province (China) Agricultural Innovation Project(Contract No. CX(17)2017), Jiangsu Province (China) Key Project in Agriculture (Contract No. BE2016362), and Jiangsu Province (China) Infrastructure Project (Contract No. BM2014051).