Apple sourness and sweetness intensities standardized using a general-purpose standard solution and a taste sensor system

The taste of agricultural products and foods is an important factor in quality evaluation; thus, comparable taste data are useful for their production, marketing, branding, and distribution regardless of when or where the data were obtained. To realize this concept, taste data need to be standardized. In this study, a method for standardizing the sourness and sweetness intensities of apple was established using a taste sensor system and a standard solution prepared from citric acid and sucrose. These taste substances are commonly used for standard solutions of other foods. Polyphenolic compounds that interfere with the sweetness sensor probe were removed from sample solutions using polyvinylpolypyrrolidone. The taste intensities estimated using this method showed good agreement with chemical analysis values highly correlated with human sensory evaluation data.