Analysis of Coffees Using Electronic Tongues

Abstract

This chapter presents a short review of electronic tongues (e-tongues) applied in coffee analysis, one of the most consumed beverage worldwide resulting in a billion dollar market. These e-tongues are useful for the food industry, particularly if the fast, reliable analysis of samples is correlated to the human taste sensation. The use of electrochemical methods in several papers in research literature is described, which demonstrate the possible distinction of overall differences between coffee samples (distinct global quality), in addition to quantification of caffeine and chlorogenic acid concentrations in coffee. Recent developments using microfluidics are also discussed, in which only microliters are needed for sampling and discharge, making it possible to fabricate lab-on-a-chip devices for coffee analysis.