title: Optimization and validation of the protocol used to analyze the taste of traditional Chinese medicines using an electronic tongue.
abstract: Tools to define the active ingredients and flavors of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) are limited by long analysis times, complex sample preparation and a lack of multiplexed analysis. The aim of the present study was to optimize and validate an electronic tongue (E-tongue) methodology to analyze the bitterness of TCMs. To test the protocol, 35 different TCM concoctions were measured using an E-tongue, and seven replicate measurements of each sample were taken to evaluate reproducibility and precision. E-tongue sensor information was identified and classified using analysis approaches including least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM), support vector machine (SVM), discriminant analysis (DA) and partial least squares (PLS). A benefit of this analytical protocol was that the analysis of a single sample took <15 min for all seven sensors. The results identified that the LS-SVM approach provided the best bitterness classification accuracy (binary classification accuracy, 100%; ternary classification accuracy, 89.66%). The E-tongue protocol developed showed good reproducibility and high precision within a 6 h measurement cycle. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of an E-tongue being applied to assay the bitterness of TCMs. This approach could be applied in the classification of the taste of TCMs, and serve important roles in other fields, including foods and beverages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xuelin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China; The Level Three Laboratory of Chinese Traditional Medical Preparation of State Administration of TCM, Henan 450000, P.R. China; Key Laboratory of Viral Diseases Prevention and Treatment of TCM of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ruixin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Junming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, P.R. China; Department of Computer Science and Statistics, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA.
authors.forename: Zidan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China; The Level Three Laboratory of Chinese Traditional Medical Preparation of State Administration of TCM, Henan 450000, P.R. China; Key Laboratory of Viral Diseases Prevention and Treatment of TCM of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huiling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xinjing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gui
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China; The Level Three Laboratory of Chinese Traditional Medical Preparation of State Administration of TCM, Henan 450000, P.R. China; Key Laboratory of Viral Diseases Prevention and Treatment of TCM of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bingya
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China; The Level Three Laboratory of Chinese Traditional Medical Preparation of State Administration of TCM, Henan 450000, P.R. China; Key Laboratory of Viral Diseases Prevention and Treatment of TCM of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Junhan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
keywords: electronic tongue; methodology; taste; traditional Chinese medicine