US researchers develop e-tongue to handle spicy food

The researchers believe that the e-tongue’s ability to differentiate between the spiciness of foods could come in handy for industry.

Washington State University researchers have found that an electronic tongue, or e-tongue, is more effective and accurate in taste-testing fiery foods than sensitive human taste buds.

In a new paper in the Journal of Food Science, recent WSU graduate student Courtney Schlossareck and her advisor, Carolyn Ross, found that the e-tongue is very accurate at telling the difference of spiciness between samples of the same food.

The researchers believe that the e-tongue’s ability to differentiate between the spiciness of foods could come in handy for industry.

A major problem with testing spicy foods is that people can only test a few samples before their taste buds give out. After a few bites, taste buds can’t distinguish differences in taste at all. But the e-tongue can handle as much heat as any scientist can throw at it and maintain accuracy.