UAB develops electronic tongue

Researchers from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona have developed an electronic tongue that can identify different types of Cava wine.

Cava varies in type according to the amount of sugar added for the second fermentation, which produces the bubbles in the bottle as well as increasing sweetness. The ‘robot sommelier’ has been designed to replicate the way in which humans taste, detecting the different chemical balances from samples of the Spanish sparkling wine, to distinguish between and identify different types.

So far, it already able to differentiate between three types of cava and additional research should mean that it will be able to distinguish between all seven varieties sold, ranging from Brut Nature (no sugar added) to Sweet (more than 50 grams of sugar per liter).

Lead scientist Manel del Valle said: 'It could perform automatic tests in the production process to detect defects and may be a replacement for the human sensory panel used by many wine producers.'

The device mimics human taste using biosensors to detect chemical information, which is then fed through a computerized system to interpret the data, just like a human brain and nervous system.

Catalunya is famous for it’s sparkling wine, and Cava has become somewhat of an emblematic symbol for the region's cuisine, and of Spanish culture in general, especially during the holidays La Noche Buena and La Nochevieja.

The main areas are Cava is produced are Codorníu and Penedés, situated to the south of Barcelona, they are thriving production points, and the development of the ‘electronic tongue’ could truly revolutionise Cava production replacing traditional wine tasting methods.