Comparison of a voltammetric electronic tongue and a lipid membrane taste sensor

An electronic tongue based on voltammetry and a multichannel lipid membrane taste sensor based on potentiometry are compared using two aqueous examples: detergents and teas. The electronic tongue consists of four electrodes of different metals, a reference electrode and a counter electrode. The measurement principle is based on pulse voltammetry in which current is measured during the change of the amplitude of the applied potential. The taste sensor is based on eight different lipid/polymer membranes. The voltage difference between the electrodes and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode is measured when the current is close to zero. The responses from the two sensors systems are treated separately with multivariate data analysis based on principal component analysis and then merged to examine if further information could be extracted. It is shown that although the two sensor systems are about equal in separation ability in the two cases, extra information can be gained by combination of the two sensor systems.