Assessing milk quality using the electronic nose

Abstract

There are many ways for milk and dairy products to develop flavour defects. Sensory evaluation, has been the traditional approach to characterize off flavours. The need for odour sensing devices becomes greater when volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds are present in the product in parts per billion or even in the parts per trillion concentration range that cause off flavours. Today, sophisticated, sensitive instrumental tests such as electronic nose technology coupled with gas chromatography are capable of detecting, identifying and quantifying the specific chemical agents responsible for off flavours. This study focused on the use of the electronic nose as a novel technology for the detection and monitoring of milk quality by testing the effects of heat treatment at 63˚C and shelf life. Microbiological testing, sensory evaluation and gas chromatographic analysis were carried out together with aroma profiling using the electronic nose to determine milk quality.