Biomimetic sensor arrays for liquid analysis, commonly known as electronic tongues, are analytical devices based on arrays of partially selective chemical sensors or biosensors combined with multivariate data processing techniques. Their development was primarily inspired by biological sensing systems, particularly gustation, while also drawing on advances in materials and sensor science, chemometrics, and artificial intelligence. Since their emergence nearly three decades ago, a wide range of applications has been proposed for electronic tongues, with taste assessment being one of the most prominent and ambitious. Sensory evaluation is still predominantly carried out by human sensory panels, which are expensive, time-consuming, and prone to variability and subjectivity. As bio-inspired analytical instruments modelled on mammalian gustatory systems, electronic tongues were expected to address these limitations.
This talk will present a brief overview of the development of electronic tongues and the sensor systems and technologies employed in their design. Key challenges associated with applying electronic tongue systems to taste assessment will be discussed, along with recent trends marking a transition from bio-inspired toward fully biomimetic multisensor systems.