AN ELECTRONIC NOSE FOR FOOD ANALYSIS

Since the first developments of electronic noses, food analysis has be en considered as one of its most useful applications. In this paper an electronic nose based on quartz microbalances coated with metallo-por phyrins and related compounds is presented and illustrated. Extensive tests on various substances playing key roles in food analysis show th at sensing properties of the sensing materials (in terms of sensitivit y and selectivity) can be exploited for electronic nose applications d evoted to the analysis of various kinds of foods. The versatility of t his system has been successfully tested on different kinds of foods, s uch as fish, meat, vegetable and wine for which results are shown. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.