APPLICATION OF SEMICONDUCTOR GAS SENSOR TO QUALITY-CONTROL OF MEAT FRESHNESS IN FOOD-INDUSTRY

We have investigated the possibility of utilizing a semiconductor gas sensor for quality control of meat freshness in the food industry. A s emiconductor gas sensor based on In2O3 is exploited for detecting ethy l acetate, a typical flavour volatile component produced in the initia l bacterial putrefaction of meat. Of the sensor elements examined, Rh- La2O3-In2O3 is found to show excellent sensitivity and selectivity to ethyl acetate at 300 degrees C. The sensor response signal increases w ith increasing meat-storage time and reflects rather well the increase of bacteria determined by a conventional colony-counting method. The multiple correlation factor between both methods is 0.8.