A bionic in vitro bioelectronic tongue based on cardiomyocytes for high-specificity detection of bitter and umami compounds

Gustation, one of the most important senses, is very important for feeding and survival of mammals. Umami and 7 kinds of bitterness receptors are specifically expressed in rat cardiomyocytes. Combined with MEA sensor chip, a novel bioelectronic tongue (BioET) based on cardiomyocytes is designed and constructed for the detection of bitter and umami compounds in this paper. The results show that this BioET has specific response to bitter and umami among the five taste compounds. In the detection of different bitter compounds, the sensor only has specific response to the bitter compounds that can activate the bitter receptors expressed by cardiomyocytes. The specific detection of two bitter and one umami compounds are realized.