Development of a Portable Taste Sensor with a Lipid/Polymer Membrane

作者：Tahara Yusuke^*; Nakashi Kenichi; Ji Ke; Ikeda Akihiro; Toko Kiyoshi

来源：Sensors, 2013, 13(1): 1076-1084.

DOI：10.3390/s130101076

• taste sensor
• lipid/polymer membrane
• portable sensor
• in-field evaluation

We have developed a new portable taste sensor with a lipid/polymer membrane and conducted experiments to evaluate the sensor%26apos;s performance. The fabricated sensor consists of a taste sensor chip (40 mm x 26 mm x 2.2 mm) with working and reference electrodes and a portable sensor device (80 mm x 25 mm x 20 mm). The working electrode consists of a taste-sensing site comprising a poly(hydroxyethyl) methacrylate (pHEMA) hydrogel layer with KCl as the electrolyte layer and a lipid/polymer membrane as the taste sensing element. The reference electrode comprises a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane layer with a small hole and a pHEMA layer with KCl. The whole device is the size of a USB memory stick, making it suitable for portable use. The sensor%26apos;s response to tannic acid as the standard astringency substance showed good accuracy and reproducibility, and was comparable with the performance of a commercially available taste sensing system. Thus, it is possible for this sensor to be used for in-field evaluations and it can make a significant contribution to the food industry, as well as in various fields of research.

• 出版日期2013-1