Olfactory and technical measurement of malodours caused by food spoilage

Malodour produced by spoiling food often occurs in the kitchen. It is in general a mixture of a high variety of volatile organic and some inorganic compounds, which are perceived through the human nose. The signal of a malodour is interpreted as a warning indicator by the human brain. To be able to measure malodours with an automatic detections system may be very promising in providing early warning indication or automatic depletion devices. In this work MOX-semi-conductors are used as broad band sensors to identify malodours coming from food spoilage. In parallel olfactory measurements are used to determine the odour concentration. In general a good correlation is achieved showing the automatic detection of malodours of spoiling food via MOX-sensors may be a promising way forward. (the editor)