A novel objective method for human gustatory sensitivity assessment

Objective assessment of taste perception is a challenging problem, since the taste perception is influenced by different factors. In this work, we present an innovative method for human gustatory sensitivity evaluation, which relies on an electrophysiological signal recording, thanks to a novel custom electrode. The method, called Electrotastegram (ETG), is fast, safe, easy and objective. Advanced studies on the responses to a prototypical bitter compound, 6-n-propyltiouracil (PROP), revealed how the parameters extracted with the proposed technique not only correlate with the main features adopted by the physiologists, but can be also used to approach the problem of the automatic classification of the PROP taster status by supervised machine learning strategies. The extension to different taste stimuli revealed further potentialities of the ETG technique. Finally, the proposed solution paves the way to further advanced studies in the human physiology, representing an important milestone in the field.