The electronic tongue can detect 14 common sweeteners.
(Credit: Kenneth Suslick/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)At the American Chemical Society's 238th National Meeting in Washington Monday, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced "the first practical 'electronic tongue' sensor" that identifies sources of sweetness and then changes colors depending on the type and quantity of sweeteners present.
Under the leadership of chemistry professor Kenneth S. Suslick--who may or may not return my phone call to explain, among other pressing matters, what is going on in his university Web site photograph--the Illinois team developed a sensor about the size of a business card that can simply be dipped into food samples. "We take things that smell or taste and convert their chemical properties into a visual image," Suslick said in a press release.
I can't help but cut to an image of a white-tablecloth restaurant with a little sign that asks patrons to please be discreet when pulling out their tongues.
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