Discrimination of pungent-tasting substances using surface-polarity controlled sensor with indirect in situ modification

Taste qualities were studied using a method for detecting the change in interactions between an electrode surface and taste substances in aqueous solution. The present method to detect chemicals was categorized into impedance spectroscopy in electrochemistry. Taste substances affect the electrochemical impedance by adsorption to the electrode surface. Dependences of the impedance on the electrode potential showed different patterns for five basic taste substances with different taste qualities. Furthermore, the response profiles obtained for capsaicin, piperine and allyl isothiocyanate, which are natural pungent-taste substances and have strong hydrophobic groups, were discriminated from those for bitter taste substances using a new method detecting the change of electrode impedance by addition of the mediators of chemical interactions to the taste substances. Hydrophobic substances, which were difficult to discriminate using the electrochemical method, could be discriminated by a proposed method; hence, it was possible to detect wide range of chemical substances from hydrophilic electrolytes to various hydrophobic non-electrolytes.