Research on multi-equipment general evaluation method of drug taste-masking efficiency based on electronic tongue technology

The masking level of adverse taste of drugs, defined as taste-masking efficiency, directly affects the palatability of drugs, which in turn affects medication compliance. However, there is no effective and unified evaluation method. In this paper, three preparations with different dosage form and varied solubility, fexofenadine hydrochloride dry suspension, calcium carbonate D₃ particles and compound polyethylene glycol electrolyte powder, were selected to carry out simultaneous research on TS-5000Z, Astree Ⅱ V5 and iTongue20 electronic tongues. Through the determination of judgment criteria for reasonable solution preparation, effective sensor cleaning and repeatable sample testing, combined with high-dimensional data similarity discrimination methods such as principal component analysis and Euclidean distance, an evaluation method of taste-masking efficiency for drugs was established based on the design of reference solutions and determination of taste similarity between sample solution and reference solution. The above method was reproducible with comparable results among instruments, and with consistent results with human sensory evaluation. The above method is a standardized new method that can be used for multi-type drugs and multi-principle equipment, which provides technical support for the comparison of taste palatability between pharmaceutical preparations.