Comparative performance analysis of three electronic nose systems using different sensor technologies in odor analysis of retained solvents on printed packaging

The food industry is interested in determining the applicability of using electronic nose instrumentation for odor analysis of retained solvents on packaging materials. Performance analyses of electronic nose systems using 3 leading sensor technologies showed that the conducting polymer sensor technology demonstrated the most discriminatory power, while all 3 were able to discriminate among film samples at various levels of retained solvents. All 3 systems correctly identified 100% of unknown samples. Based on discriminatory power and practical features, the FOX 3000 and the Cyranose 320 were superior. The results indicate that electronic nose instrumentation can be used as a complimentary discriminatory tool in quality control for packaging.