[Application progress on taste evaluation methods for oral preparations]

Taste is an important factor affecting the medicinal properties of oral preparations and patient compliance with medication, and also an important evaluation index for oral preparation design and clinical application. How to characterize the taste objectively, accurately, simply, and efficiently is a bottleneck problem that restricts the taste design, development, and utilization of oral preparations. At present, the commonly used taste assessment methods for oral preparations are traditional human taste panel, electronic tongue, animal preference test, in vitro release study, and electrophysiological test. The traditional human taste panel is the first choice for taste evaluation, but it is limited by poor subjectivity and reproducibility. Therefore, despite some limitations, the other four taste assessment methods have been applied in the pharmaceutical industry as auxiliary methods. This study reviewed the detection principles, applicability, advantages, and disadvantages of the above methods to provide references for the taste correction research and taste assessment of oral preparations, improve patient compliance and the competitiveness of oral preparation products in the industry, and promote the development of oral preparation technologies.