Electronic tongue for the detection of taste-masking microencapsulation of active pharmaceutical substances

Electronic tongues can produce chemical images of samples, whose changes can be correlated with general properties, e.g. taste sensations. In this work, a sensor array equipped with eight types of ion-selective electrodes was coupled with Principal Components Analysis in order to detect microencapsulation effect of two Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), which influences their taste properties. The character of change of sensor array responses in samples modified by microencapsulation was the same in two investigated APIs (Ibuprofen and Rixithromycin), proving, that the sensed taste becomes similar in both formulations after Eudragit modification. The obtained results show, that the presented electronic tongue can be used for analysis of masking effects in drugs and detection of microencapsulation effect. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.