An electronic tongue in the dairy industry

The concept of electronic tongues or taste sensors has developed rapidly during recent years due to their large potential. They are based on electrochemical sensors combined with multivariate data analysis. Voltammetric electronic tongues have proven valuable in many applications. Due to their ruggedness and simplicity, they have been found especially suitable for on-line monitoring of industrial processes. A voltammetric electronic tongue, specially designed for use in the dairy industry is described. It consisted of four working electrodes (gold, platinum, rhodium and stainless steel), embedded in PEEK™. It was mounted in a housing of stainless steel, which was inserted in the process line for direct on-line measurements. The voltammetric electronic tongue was used to follow different sources of milk coming into the process and to monitor the cleaning process.