Friday, February 3, 2023
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home Latest News

A bioelectronic tongue ‘tastes’ sweetness

January 26, 2022
in Latest News
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Candy, cookies, juices. Just about everyone likes sweet treats, but what one person thinks tastes too sugary, another might think is just right. This variability makes it challenging to develop new foods and beverages, so companies have sought a more objective method. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed an ultrasensitive bioelectronic tongue that measures sweetness by mimicking human taste buds.

Although human sensory panels are the most common way to analyze a substance’s taste, there can be a lot of differences in how people perceive flavors. To get more objective data, researchers have made bioelectronic tongues in the lab, but they either are complicated to manufacture or can’t fully replicate the way the human tongue works. Human tongues have sweet taste receptors with two large, complex structures that bind to compounds such as sugars. The outermost portion of one of these structures is called the Venus flytrap domain because its hinged, two-lobed molecular structure resembles the leaves of the insectivorous plant that close around its prey. This domain interacts with most of the sweet substances a person consumes. In a previous study, Tai Hyun Park, Seunghun Hong and colleagues made an umami sensor with human-like performance by using just the protein at the end of the umami taste receptor. So, these researchers wanted to apply the same concept to make a sweet-sensing bioelectronic tongue, using the Venus flytrap domain as electronic taste buds.

The researchers attached copies of the Venus flytrap domain that were made by bacteria in a thin layer on a gold electrode. They then connected multiple gold electrodes together with carbon nanotubes, making a field-effect transistor device. When solutions of naturally sweet sucrose or of the artificial sweetener saccharin were applied to the device, the current decreased. The sensor responded to these solutions down to the 0.1 femtomolar level, which is 10 million times more sensitive than previous bioelectronic sweet sensors, the researchers say. The device could also consistently measure the sweetness of real drinks, such as apple juice and sucrose-sweetened chamomile tea, but it did not show a response when cellobiose (a tasteless sugar) or monosodium glutamate (a salt known as MSG) were introduced. Because the bioelectronic tongue was both sensitive and selective for sweet-tasting compounds, the researchers say this could be a powerful tool for the health care, pharmaceutical, and food and drink industries. 

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of Korea, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of Korea, Samsung Electronics, the European Research Council (ERC) within the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Institutional Program.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact [email protected]

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram



Journal

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

DOI

10.1021/acsami.1c17349

Article Title

Ultrasensitive Bioelectronic Tongue Based on the Venus Flytrap Domain of a Human Sweet Taste Receptor

Article Publication Date

6-Jan-2022

Tags: bioelectronicsweetnesstastestongue
Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • Face masks cut distance airborne pathogens could travel in half, new study finds

    188 shares
    Share 75 Tweet 47
  • Looking beyond microplastics, Oregon State researchers find that cotton and synthetic microfibers impact behavior and growth of aquatic organisms

    71 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • Why lung cancer doesn’t respond well to immunotherapy

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

    551 shares
    Share 220 Tweet 138
  • Study presents novel therapeutic target for treatment of sepsis

    111 shares
    Share 44 Tweet 28
  • Discovery of new ice may change understanding of water

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

New study shows snacking on mixed tree nuts may impact cardiovascular risk factors and increase serotonin

Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

Face masks cut distance airborne pathogens could travel in half, new study finds

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 205 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In