Using a concept similar to that used in commercial breath-freshening strips a researcher from Temple University has developed a new method for clinical taste testing.

Greg Smutzer, director of the Laboratory of Gustatory Psychophysics in the Biology Department of Temple's College of Science and Technology has developed taste strips similar to breath-freshening strips.

However, these edible strips contain one of the five basic tastes that are detected by humans - sweet, sour, salty, bitter and monosodium glutamate, which is also known as umami taste.

Smutzer began by using a combination of two polymers, pullulan and Methocel. He created the strips dissolving the polymers, in the form of powders, in warm water and then allowing the solution to cool to room temperature.

Added into the solution is a small amount of a taste stimulus that will give each strip the desired taste: sodium chloride for salty, sucrose for sweet, ascorbic acid for sour, quinine for bitter, and monosodium glutamate for umami taste.

Once the solution is cool, it is then poured onto Teflon-coated pans and allowed to dry five to six hours in order to produce a clear, thin film. When dry, the films are carefully removed, and cut into one-inch-square strips.

Smutzer said that pullulan, a major ingredient of the Listerine breath strips, is tasteless and dissolves within seconds in the mouth. Methocel is added in small amounts to increase the tensile strength of the pullulan films.