Umami substances are nutrients to humans, and their synergistic effect is associated with food acceptance. In this study, a new biosensor was developed to detect umami substances, their synergistic effect, and detection kinetics. Porcine taste-bud tissues were used as the sensing element, and the umami substance signals were characterized using an electrochemical workstation. The responses of taste-bud tissue sensors to monosodium L-glutamate (MSG) were compared based on different tongue sites. The interaction law between MSG and receptors in the taste-bud tissues of the three sensors conforms to enzymatic-reaction kinetics, where rectangular hyperbola curves in the Michaelis-Menten equation were followed with fitting coefficients (>0.91). However, the taste-bud sensors respond differently to MSG stimuli, with those based on a tip and mediolateral tongue, producing the lowest detection limit of 10-16 mol/L. The number of receptors required for a single cell to achieve maximum output signal is 3.68, 30.42, and 7.27, respectively. Moreover, the taste-bud tissue sensors identified the synergistic effect of umami substances. In addition, they were sensitive to umami variations in soy sauce and mandarin fish. The developed porcine taste-bud tissue biosensor revealed the interaction law between umami substances and receptors, providing a new idea for umami evaluation.
Keywords: Biosensor; Electrochemical analysis; Synergistic effect; Taste-bud tissue; Umami substance.
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