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Apple sourness and sweetness intensities standardized using a general-purpose standard solution and a taste sensor
Tomomi Ujihara1, Nobuyuki Hayashi1, Hidekazu Ikezaki2
1Institute of Food Research, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan.
Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry
|September 20, 2025
Summary
Standardizing taste data for agricultural products is crucial for quality assessment. This study developed a method using a taste sensor to standardize apple sourness and sweetness, ensuring reliable taste evaluation.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Sensory Analysis
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Taste is a critical quality attribute for agricultural products and foods.
- Comparable taste data are essential for production, marketing, branding, and distribution.
- Standardization of taste data is necessary for reliable and consistent evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a method for standardizing the sourness and sweetness intensities of apples.
- To enable comparable taste data regardless of time or location.
- To support objective quality evaluation in the food industry.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a taste sensor system for quantitative taste measurement.
- Prepared standard solutions using citric acid and sucrose.
- Removed interfering polyphenolic compounds with polyvinylpolypyrrolidone.
Main Results:
- Successfully standardized sourness and sweetness intensities of apple samples.
- Demonstrated good agreement between taste sensor estimations and chemical analysis.
- Achieved high correlation with human sensory evaluation data.
Conclusions:
- The developed method provides a reliable approach for standardizing apple taste.
- This standardization facilitates objective and consistent taste quality assessment.
- The method has potential applications for various food products requiring taste standardization.
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