Wednesday, October 4, 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 SCIENCE NEWS Biology

An artificial ‘tongue’ of gold to taste maple syrup

May 5, 2020
in Biology
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

It’s said that maple syrup is Quebec’s liquid gold. Now scientists at Université de Montréal have found a way to use real gold — in the form of nanoparticles — to quickly find out how the syrup tastes.

The new method — a kind of artificial tongue — is validated in a study published today in Analytical Methods, the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, in the United Kingdom.

The “tongue” is a colorimetric test that detects changes in colour to show how a sample of maple syrup tastes. The result is visible to the naked eye in a matter of seconds and is useful to producers.

“The artificial tongue is simpler than a human tongue: it can’t distinguish the complex flavour profiles that we can detect,” said UdeM chemistry professor Jean-François Masson, who led the study. “Our device works specifically to detect flavour differences in maple syrup as it’s being produced.”

1,818 samples tested

The artificial tongue was validated by analyzing 1,818 samples of maple syrup from different regions of Quebec. The syrups that were analyzed represented the various known aromatic profiles and colours of syrup, from golden to dark brown.

“We designed the ‘tongue’ at the request of the Québec Maple Syrup Producers to detect the presence of different flavour profiles,” explained Simon Forest, the study’s first author. “The tool takes into account the product’s olfactory and taste properties.”

Maple syrup has a molecular complexity similar to that of wine. Its taste is delicate, without bitterness, and it has a subtle aroma. During the production process, specialized human tasters are employed to judge which profile each batch fits into.

“The development of the artificial tongue is intended to support the colossal work that is being done in the field to do the first sorting of syrups quickly and classify them according to their qualities,” said Masson.

Red for the best, blue for the rest

The researchers compare the artificial tongue to a pH test for a swimming pool. You simply pour a few drops of syrup into the gold nanoparticle reagent and wait about 10 seconds.

If the result stays in the red spectrum, it has the characteristics of a premium quality syrup, the kind best loved by consumers and sold in grocery stores or exported.

If, on the other hand, the test turns blue, the syrup may have a flavour “defect”, which may be treated as an industrial syrup for use in processing.

“It doesn’t mean the syrup is not good for consumption or that it has a different sugar level,” Masson said of the “blue” type syrup, which the food industry uses as a natural sweetener in other products. “It just may not have the usual desired characteristics, and so can’t be sold directly in bottles to consumers.”

60 categories of taste

Caramelized, woody, green, smoked, salty, burnt — the taste of maple syrup has as many as 60 categories to fit into. Maple syrup is essentially a concentrated sugar solution of 66 per cent sucrose and 33 per cent water; the remaining one per cent of other compounds determines the taste.

Like wine, the taste of maple syrup changes according to a variety of factors, including the harvest period, the region, production and storage methods and, of course, the weather. Too much variation in temperature over a weekend, for instance, can greatly affect the taste profile of the product.

The artificial tongue developed at UdeM could someday be adapted for tasting wine or fruit juice, Masson said, as well as be useful in a number of other agrifood contexts.

###

About this study

“High-throughput plasmonic tongue using an aggregation assay and nonspecific interactions: classification of taste profiles in maple syrup,” by Simon Forest et al, was published May 5, 2020 in Analytical Methods.

The study was funded by the Québec Maple Syrup Producers, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Media Contact
Julie Gazaille
j.cordeau-gazaille@umontreal.ca

Tags: AgricultureBiochemistryChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesFood/Food ScienceNanotechnology/Micromachines
Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • New $81million NIH grant will help U.S. answer urgent need for better dementia care

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • New research finds that ancient carbon in rocks releases as much carbon dioxide as the world’s volcanoes

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • IU cancer researcher receives $2.2 million grant for metastatic breast cancer research

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • Instant evolution: AI designs new robot from scratch in seconds

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • The World Mitochondria Society will host Targeting Mitochondria 2023 with challenging visions in Berlin

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Pumped for frigid weather: study pinpoints cold adaptations in nervous system of Antarctic octopus

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

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

Latest NEWS

Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

Groundbreaking mathematical proof: new insights into typhoon dynamics unveiled

New $81million NIH grant will help U.S. answer urgent need for better dementia care

Subscribe to Blog via Email

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

Join 208 other subscribers

© 2023 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

© 2023 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