Spices, Flavor Systems, & the Electronic Nose

One may think an electronic nose would tell you everything you ever wanted to know about a sample, but, in fact, an electronic nose functions like a black box—it knows nothing until it is taught. It is simply a series of sensors that respond to volatile components of the headspace above a sample.

The experimenter optimizes operating conditions and teaches the electronic nose what to recognize through teaching sets and data libraries. The software of the electronic nose uses a series of algorithms…