Application of an electronic nose to predict total volatile bases in capelin (Mallotus villosus) for fishmeal production

An electronic nose was used as a rapid technique to monitor changes in the headspace gas above capelin (Mallotus villosus) during storage;at 0 and 5 d egrees C. At both temperatures, refrigeration was compared with an ice/seaw ater cooling system. At 5 degrees C, the effect of added 0.2% acetic acid w as also tested. Electronic nose measurements were compared to measurements of total volatile bases (TVB), gas chromatography of volatile compounds, an d sensory analysis. TVB analysis indicated less spoilage in seawater/ice sy stems than in refrigeration, but the other measurements indicated more spoi lage in the seawater system compared to refrigeration. The possibility of u sing only a few sensors in the electronic nose to predict TVB was studied u sing partial least squares regression and a saturated generalized linear mo del. The results reported herein indicate that rapid electronic nose measur ements, which require no sample preparation, can be used to predict the TVB value of the raw material stored under different conditions.