Jiyan Biotechs Mouse Tongue Organoids Empower Umami Biosensor System & Unlock New Dimensions of Umami Detection

In the microscopic world of food flavor research, a group of millimeter-scale "miniature tongues" are rewriting the rules of taste analysis.

A research team from Dalian Polytechnic University and other institutions published a study in Food Chemistry (Impact Factor 9.8), constructing an umami biosensor system (TOS-FC) centered on mouse tongue organoids, bringing the dream of "tasting all umami flavors in the world" into reality within the laboratory.

When discussing the umami taste of food, terms like monosodium glutamate (MSG) and inosine monophosphate (IMP) are familiar. However, traditional detection methods face an awkward paradox: liquid chromatography can measure concentrations but cannot interpret "how umami" a taste is; electronic tongues can capture electrical signals yet fail to mimic the biological perception logic of human tongues. It’s akin to measuring flavor with a thermometer—precise in numbers but devoid of sensory essence.

The crux lies in that real taste perception involves complex signal transduction at the cellular level, a biological process that traditional instruments struggle to replicate. 

Not until the advent of organoid technology did a biological template emerge to tackle this challenge.

From the tongue tissue of 3-week-old C57BL/6 mice, researchers isolated taste stem cells and cultivated three-dimensional taste organoids with a diameter of approximately 200 micrometers in petri dishes. These "miniature tongues" not only exhibit self-renewal capacity but also differentiate into type Ⅱ taste cells specialized in umami perception, expressing key umami receptors such as T1R1/T1R3 and mGluR1.

More remarkably, they can simulate the signal transduction of real tongues: when umami substances bind to receptors, the intracellular calcium ion concentration fluctuates like a heartbeat. Researchers labeled these fluctuations with fluorescent probes and converted them into quantifiable optical signals via flow cytometry (FC) — thus giving birth to the TOS-FC umami biosensor.

As a high-tech enterprise specializing in organoid technology, Jiyan Biotech is committed to providing value-added services for personalized cancer treatment and new drug development, adhering to the philosophy of "assisting the world with technology, and pursuing excellence through meticulous research".

Jiyan Biotech has independently developed more than 50 types of organoid models. The current product portfolio includes:

• "One-stop" organoid construction kit series

• Organoid identification and embedding kit series

• Matrigel-free organoid preparation and high-throughput drug screening kit series

The company has applied for 36 national patents, with 16 patents granted.

Just as the TOS-FC technology pioneers a new paradigm for taste analysis, Jiyan Biotech is leveraging standardized tools to bridge the gap between organoid technology in research papers and every link of industrial application.

Currently, TOS-FC has successfully quantified three typical umami substances: MSG, IMP, and EP, providing the food industry with an analytical tool that combines biological relevance and instrumental precision.

Imagine that in the future, when developing compound seasonings, engineers will no longer rely on extensive taste-testing. Instead, this system can predict the "golden ratio" of umami combinations.

What's more exciting is that this technology is expected to expand to other taste analyses such as bitterness and sweetness, and even provide in vitro models for studying taste disorders. These beating mouse tongue organoids in petri dishes are leading us to open new doors to taste science.