Flavor quality, instrumental monitoring

Reineccius G., Instrumental means of monitoring the flavor quality of foods. Acs. Symp. Series., 631, 241-252, 1996. 

Instrumental Means of Monitoring the Flavor Quality of Foods... 

It has been a long term goal of many researchers to use instrumental means to replace some sensory functions. The use of sensory panels for quality control purposes presents many problems which may be minimized through the use of supplementary instrumental techniques. Over the years, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry have found limited application for this purpose. Recently an instrument generically called an "electronic nose" has been commercialized. This paper will present a brief overview of gas chromatographic and mass spectral techniques used to monitor flavor quality in foods but focus on the new electronic nose instruments. 

Aroma Isolation. The initial task in this approach to monitoring flavor quality is to deliver a sample of aroma to the instrument. This may appear to be simple task but it is generally very complicated and determines the subsequent success of the analysis. Our major problem is that our instruments are not nearly as sensitive as the human nose so generally some method of concentration must be included in the analysis. This requirement may be simplified by the fact that the isolation method may not have to be all inclusive. For quality control we simply need to find indicators of flavor quality rather than isolate all of the compounds which may contribute to flavor. However, the method must be simple, rapid and reproducible. 

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