Publication

Abstract : In this era of globalization, consumers are aware of safety, quality and authenticity of the food products they purchase. From pre-historical times, consumers are paying great attention to the sensory characteristics like smell, taste and appearance of food items. Therefore, industries are in high burden to process the food items without affecting the quality. Moreover, food borne diseases occur from the various sources like intentional addition of some low quality ingredients to the food items, packaging and improper handling. In practice, conventional method of food quality analysis is done by organoleptic tests. Due to long processing time and lack of accessories, researchers have been looking for an alternative way to evaluate the food quality in a non-destructive manner. Fortunately, it is possible to evaluate the food quality using the recently developed non-destructive and sophisticated system namely Electronic Nose (eNose). This chapter presents the review on the recent developments in electronic nose technologies for food quality and safety control. Much attention has been given to the perishable food items like milk, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, seafood and beverages. This chapter comprises of an introductory section to describe the need for food quality testing, basic components of electronic nose, its principle and instrumentation, types of sensors used and its various applications in food industries.