Electronic Tongues for the Organoleptic Characterization of Wines

The quality of wines is usually evaluated by traditional chemical analysis or by a sensory panel composed of trained experts. In recent years, a new class of instruments, the electronic tongues, have been successfully applied to the analysis of wines including quality control, aging control, or detection of fraudulences among others. The use of arrays of electrochemical sensors is of particular interest in the field of wines due to the importance of antioxidants, which are responsible for their organoleptic characteristics and also for their health benefits. In this chapter, the current status of the research and development in the field of electronic tongues applied to the analysis of wines is presented. Their potential applications in the wine industry are described. The capabilities of the system to predict the concentration of polyphenols, sugars, pH, or other compounds of interest are also discussed. The chapter finishes with a final comment about the expected future developments.