Exploring bitterness of traditional Chinese medicine samples by potentiometric electronic tongue and by capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography coupled to UV detection.

Talanta. 2016 May 15;152:105-11. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2016.01.058. Epub 2016 Jan 28.

Yaroshenko I¹, Kirsanov D², Kartsova L³, Sidorova A⁴, Sun Q⁵, Wan H⁶, He Y⁶, Wang P⁵, Legin A⁷.

Author information

• ¹Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, Mendeleev Center, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia; Bioanalytical Laboratory CSU"Analytical Spectrometry", St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, Box 27, Gzhatskaya str. 27, 198220 St. Petersburg, Russia; Laboratory of Artificial Sensory Systems, ITMO University, Kronverkskiy pr., 49, 197101 St. Petersburg, Russia.
• ²Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, Mendeleev Center, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia; Laboratory of Artificial Sensory Systems, ITMO University, Kronverkskiy pr., 49, 197101 St. Petersburg, Russia. Electronic address: d.kirsanov@gmail.com.
• ³Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, Mendeleev Center, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.
• ⁴Bioanalytical Laboratory CSU"Analytical Spectrometry", St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, Box 27, Gzhatskaya str. 27, 198220 St. Petersburg, Russia.
• ⁵Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310027, China.
• ⁶Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 548 Binwen Road, Binjiang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310053, China.
• ⁷Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, Mendeleev Center, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia; Laboratory of Artificial Sensory Systems, ITMO University, Kronverkskiy pr., 49, 197101 St. Petersburg, Russia.

Abstract

Instrumental bitterness assessment of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM) preparations was addressed in this study. Three different approaches were evaluated, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to UV detector (HPLC), capillary electrophoresis coupled to UV detector (CE) and a potentiometric multisensor system - electronic tongue (ET). Most studies involving HPLC and CE separations use these as selective instruments for quantification of individual substances. However we employed these techniques to provide chromatographic or electrophoretic sample profiles. These profiles are somewhat analogous to the profiles produced by the ET. Profiles from all instruments were then related to professional sensory panel evaluations using projections on latent structures (PLS) regression. It was found that all three methods allow for bitterness assessment in TCM samples in terms of human sensory panel with root mean squared errors of prediction ca. 0.9 within bitterness scale from 0 (no bitterness) to 6 (maximal bitterness).
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

Bitterness; Chromatographic and electrophoretic profiles; Electronic tongue; Polyphenols; Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)