Abstract: Seven different brands of sweet sauces were evaluated using electronic tongue with cross-type sensors, and four physicochemical indices including total acid value, amino nitrogen value, salt content and reducing sugar content of these sweet sauces were also determined. The acquired data were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Results demonstrate that electronic tongue technique was very effective in discriminating 7 different sweet sauce brands according to overall taste evaluation. Moreover, an obvious correlation between physiochemical indices and sensor response signals was observed. Accordingly, electronic tongue technique can be hopefully applied for online production monitoring of sweet sauce so as to ensure consistency and objectivity in quality evaluation.

Key words: electronic tongue, sweet sauce, physicochemical index, PCA, CCA