Chemistry: analytical and immunological testing – Food or dairy products
Patent
1996-11-21
1998-08-04
Alexander, Lyle A.
Chemistry: analytical and immunological testing
Food or dairy products
436 24, 436150, G01N 2706
Patent
active
057892504
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This application is the national filing of PCT/JP96/00844.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method of measuring differences in tastes of, e.g., foods and beverages using a taste sensor with a molecular film for an amphiphatic or bitter substance, so that the molecular film can act for the sense of taste as one of the five human senses and, more particularly, to an effective taste measuring method for measuring tastes such as bitterness and umami (many taste substances exhibiting bitterness and umami have adsorption properties to the above molecular film).
In this specification, terms of "taste", "co-washing", "cleaning", and "adsorption" are used in the following meanings.
As well known, the basic taste elements are said to include saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, sourness, and umami (see Umami: A Basic Taste, Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1987), and each taste element has differences in degree.
As for "tastes", assume that differences in tastes which can be evaluated by the human sense of taste or differences in degree of saltiness, for example, (the same kind of taste), can be grasped as physically measurable quantities. A measurable taste or a difference in taste (comparative or relative taste) is called a "taste".
Of all operations for washing off substances contained in a target measurement solution and attaching to a taste sensor, an operation up to removal of substances adsorbed on a molecular film (to be referred to as an adsorbed substance hereinafter) is called "cleaning" to prevent contamination by another target measurement solution subjected to the next measurement, to distinguish "co-washing" for washing off substances attaching to the taste sensor to the extent that they can be relatively easily washed off when the taste sensor is dipped in a solution from the cleaning.
Adsorption occurs in different degrees such that a weakly adsorbed substance can be removed, but a strongly adsorbed substance cannot be removed. "Adsorption" can be classified into physical adsorption and chemical adsorption from the academic standpoint. A variety of forces acting between atoms or molecules are available together with various combinations of atoms and molecules, and it is therefore difficult to define "adsorption". The adsorption including the manner of attachment of substances which cannot be removed by "co-washing" is called "adsorption" herein.
BACKGROUND ART
A conventional technique for measuring a taste will be described below.
A conventional technique for measuring a taste is, for example, disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 62-187252. According to this technique, the concentration of each fundamental taste (basic taste) element, i.e., a taste-exhibiting substance in a measurement target is calculated from the output values of a plurality of taste sensors. Each concentration value is corrected to a value representing the degree of each fundamental taste which matches the human taste to measure the taste.
Each taste sensor described in the above publication is a chemical or physical sensor for selectively detecting a substance exhibiting each basic taste. More specifically, the taste sensor for saltiness is a salt densitometer, the taste sensor for sourness is a hydrogen ion index meter, and the taste sensor for sweetness is a sugar meter using the refractive index of a measurement target solution.
These sensors are used for selective detection. For example, the salt densitometer which is meant to measure the degree of saltiness can measure the concentration of a salt, but cannot measure the concentrations of substances other than salt exhibiting saltiness. Therefore, correction for matching the measurement results with the human tastes has limitations.
This detection is analogous to color detection in which a sensor for detecting a single color is used to obtain a multi-color result.
The present applicants have previously filed a patent application (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-054446: U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,855, and EP 0410356A1) for "Taste Sensor and Its Manufa
REFERENCES:
patent: 5302262 (1994-04-01), Yamafuji et al.
patent: 5482855 (1996-01-01), Yamafuji et al.
Y. Kawamura et al; "Umami: A Basic Taste"; 1987; pp. 75-93; Marcel Dekker, Inc.
"Taste Sensor More Sensitive than Man"; Nikkei Science, Oct. 1991; pp. 67-76 (Contest Result of 20th Anniversary Memorial Articles). Both Japanese & English enclosed.
Alexander Lyle A.
Anritsu Corporation
Toko Kiyoshi
LandOfFree
Taste measuring method using taste sensor with molecular film does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Taste measuring method using taste sensor with molecular film, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Taste measuring method using taste sensor with molecular film will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1176230