Sensory evaluation of the taste of berberine hydrochloride using an Electronic Tongue.

Abstract Background The “Electronic Tongue” is an instrument that can be trained to screen the taste attributes of formulations within a rapid timeframe when used in conjunction with sensory panel taste assessment data. Purpose The purpose of this research was to demonstrate that a sensory instrument for taste (e-Tongue) could be used to evaluate the bitterness of berberine hydrochloride from Chinese medicinal herbs. Methods Several flavorful native compounds were tested by the e-Tongue. Data from a human sensory panel was collected to train the e-Tongue. The e-Tongue was then used to establish the correlation between data from the sensory panel, and to predict the bitterness scores of berberine hydrochloride . Results The e-Tongue showed different response patterns for different tastes or strengths of flavor compounds. No significant differences were found between the results of the e-Tongue and the sensory taste panel. Conclusions The e-Tongue could be used to evaluate the effect of bitterness of berberine hydrochloride . Therefore, e-Tongues showed potential to replace sensory panel evaluations in future experiments regarding Chinese traditional medicine.