The aim of this study was to predict the bitterness intensity of a drug using an electronic tongue (e-tongue). The model drug of berberine hydrochloride was used to establish a bitterness prediction model (BPM), based on the taste evaluation of bitterness intensity by a taste panel, the data provided by the e-tongue and a genetic algorithm-back-propagation neural network (GA-BP) modeling method. The modeling characteristics of the GA-BP were compared with those of multiple linear regression, partial least square regression and BP methods. The determination coefficient of the BPM was 0.99965±0.00004, the root mean square error of cross-validation was 0.1398±0.0488 and the correlation coefficient of the cross-validation between the true and predicted values was 0.9959±0.0027. The model is superior to the other three models based on these indicators. In conclusion, the model established in this study has a high fitting degree and may be used for the bitterness prediction modeling of berberine hydrochloride of different concentrations. The model also provides a reference for the generation of BPMs of other drugs. Additionally, the algorithm of the study is able to conduct a rapid and accurate quantitative analysis of the data provided by the e-tongue.
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