Małgorzata Wesoły, PhD student at the Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, won the "Diamond Grant". Together with colleagues from Warsaw University of Technology she is developing an electronic tongue - a system for analysis of liquid samples with complex composition. "I have been awarded Diamond Grant for analysing the taste of medicines for children, actually, for masking the bitter taste, which is caused by active substances that have a bitter taste" - said the researcher.

According to the researcher, until now syrups have been masked by the addition of sweeteners and sugar, which is not a good solution for children. Małgorzata Wesoły wants to enclose molecules of active substances in polymer capsules, which will dissolve in the gastrointestinal tract - after leaving the mouth, making their bitter taste irrelevant.

Małgorzata Wesoły explained that the idea at the university was to use the electronic tongue for taste testing of extracts from fruits, beer or wine. "There is a variety of uses, but I went towards the use of electronic tongue in pharmacy and syrups" - she said.

PhD student at Warsaw University of Technology explained that the basic tastes are sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami, so-called meat taste, received by receptors selective on monosodium glutamate. Each dish is a mixture of these flavors. We experience take them through the taste buds - receptors that are found on the tongue. These receptors register the presence of certain chemical molecules with specific properties.

In the electronic tongue, researchers replaced taste buds with membranes which only certain ions can penetrate. The device is equipped with electrodes, which allows to obtain electrical information from the solution and determine how many ions with given taste there are is in the solution. This information is then synthesised by computer.

Małgorzata Wesoły hopes that if the polymer coating that encloses bitter substances works, the computer will not sense the taste, nor will a personman.

Both the taste and smell are chemical senses. "Electronic noses for testing gas samples are already being developed in the world. In medicine they can even be used for the analysis of disease in breath samples. We focused on taste and analysing liquid samples" - added the researcher.

"I try to emulate the sense of taste in people, so that you do not need to human test all samples. Tests on humans are unethical, even if all they involve is taste" - admitted the Diamond Grant winner. She noted that the electronic tongue was still in development and so far it was not known whether the unit could replace the human senses.

Małgorzata Wesoły noted Margaret Jolly that an electronic tongue had already been developed in Japan, but the Polish team, whose member is the PhD student, wanted to build an electronic tongue from scratch.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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