A taste of what is to come as robots test out flavours

A ROBOT ‘chef’ has been trained to taste food at different stages of the chewing process to check if it is salty enough, imitating a similar process in humans.

The University of Cambridge researchers suggest their results could be useful in the development of automated or semi-automated food preparation by helping robots learn what does and does not taste good, making them better cooks.

They said when food is chewed, people notice a change in taste and texture. For example, biting into a fresh tomato at the height of summer will release juices, and as it is chewed, saliva and digestive enzymes are released, changing our perception of the tomato’s flavour.

The robot, which has already been trained to make omelettes, tasted nine different variations of scrambled eggs and tomatoes at three different stages of the chewing process.

It then produced taste maps of the different dishes.

The researchers found this ‘taste as you go’ approach improved the robot’s ability to quickly and accurately assess the saltiness of the dish.