Flavour characteristics of Spanish and Iranian saffron analysed by electronic tongue

Abstract

In this study, a portable electronic tongue was developed and successfully used to distinguish and to discriminate quality of saffron samples. The proposed system consisted of an array of voltammetric sensors based on screen-printed electrodes (SPE), where the working electrodes were of different chemical natures (e.g. carbon, gold and modified carbon electrode). Moreover, the carbon electrodes were chemically modified by electrocatalytic copper phthalocyanine derivatives. The electrodes were immersed in saffron infusions to produce complex voltammetric curves that were characterised for each saffron sample. The electrochemical signals provided by the array showed good correlations with the data obtained from traditional chemical analysis, in particular with the kaempferol, a flavonol with antioxidant activity. The calibration model was optimised using more meaningful description of factors. Finally, discriminant analysis showed that the proposed e-tongue based on SPEs modified with phthalocyanine is useful for discrimination of saffron samples with different qualities. All of these results reveal that proposed e-tongue has a high potential for saffron quality control due to its very simple sample preparation and also its fast response.