Non-destructive Quality Assurance Techniques for Food and Agro Products Using Electronic Nose

摘要

Quality assessment of food and agro products is a very big challenge since time immemorial. In addition to inherent health and hygienic features, quality of food and agro products depends on its look, taste and smell also. Human sensory panel generally assesses quality and such process is time consuming, unreliable and non-repeatable. Further, such assessment is highly subjective and dependent on physical and psychological condition of the testers. There is a need for some non-invasive quality testing methodologies for on-line and in-process quality monitoring of food and agro products. This article discusses a new method of non-destructive and on-line quality monitoring technique of food and agro products using electronic nose. Also, a case study on feasibility of application of electronic nose for aroma characterization of black tea is presented.