Long-term culture and morphological maturation of taste organoids enhance taste discrimination in a biomimetic biosensor

Taste is a multifaceted sensory experience that involves various human senses related to food and is a key indicator of food quality. A biomimetic taste-based biosensor, which utilizes taste bud organoids as sensitive elements, is able to simulate the real responses of taste transduction in vitro. Taste bud organoids are three-dimensional structures created from taste stem/progenitor cells, integrated with transducers to develop the biosensor. In this research, organoids derived from mouse taste epithelium were employed as the sensitive element, while a microelectrode array (MEA) device served as the transduction element to create the biosensor. Following exposure to sour, sweet, bitter, and salty stimuli, one specific channel was chosen, and the average discharge rates were calculated as 6.5 ± 2.29 Hz, 7.25 ± 3.77 Hz, 3.33 ± 2.62 Hz, and 4.6 ± 2.42 Hz, respectively. Statistical analysis indicated that, apart from the sour taste, the frequency and amplitude of the other three taste stimuli showed significant increases. Principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated the ability to identify and differentiate various tastes during taste conduction monitoring. Additionally, it was observed that on day 14, the taste bud organoids exhibited aggregation and fusion, leading to the formation of typical taste bud structures, indicating their maturation. This research offers a theoretical foundation and a valuable tool for effective and objective taste detection in vitro.