Application of a potentiometric sensor array as a technique in sensory analysis.

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Analytical Chemistry
• Sensory Science

Background:

• Probiotic fermented milk quality is crucial for consumer acceptance.
• Objective monitoring of sensory attributes during storage is challenging.
• Electronic tongues offer a potential solution for rapid quality assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply a potentiometric sensor array (electronic tongue) for monitoring probiotic fermented milk.
• To classify probiotic fermented milk by flavor and predict human sensory panel results.
• To assess the electronic tongue's ability to track changes during storage.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a seven-sensor potentiometric electronic tongue with an Ag/AgCl reference electrode.
• Monitored plain, strawberry, apple-pear, and forest-fruit probiotic fermented milk over 20 days at two temperatures.
• Employed pattern recognition techniques: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), and Partial Least Square regression (PLS).

Main Results:

• Achieved high classification accuracy: 97% for plain and 87% for apple-pear flavored milk.
• Demonstrated strong correlation between the electronic tongue and human sensory panel, especially for forest-fruit flavor (ANN: 0.998, PLS: 0.992).
• Successfully monitored changes in fermented milk during storage and predicted sensory attributes.

Conclusions:

• The potentiometric electronic tongue is a viable tool for monitoring probiotic fermented milk quality during storage.
• It can accurately classify flavors and predict sensory characteristics, correlating well with consumer perception.
• This technology provides an objective method to assess the quality and sensory attributes of fermented dairy products.