Array of conducting polymer sensors for the characterisation of wines

The response of an array of polymeric sensors to different Spanish wine var ieties has been evaluated. Two different systems for the injection of the v olatile compounds, based on static and dynamic headspace sampling, were use d. A comparative study of the operation of the array when using one or the other methodology has been carried out. The cross sensitivity of the polyme ric films to moisture and ethanol has been explicitly considered. The discr imination and classification capabilities of the sensor array have been exa mined by statistical analysis of the obtained data using pattern recognitio n techniques. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.