Electronic nose and its application in the food industry: a review

Food is closely related to human life. With the development of the times, the human demand for food has changed dramatically. People pay closer attention to the safety, health, composition, brand, origin, and processing method of food, which is precisely inseparable from food testing technology. Currently, there are many food inspection technologies, and the electronic nose (E-nose), as an efficient, fast, non-destructive, and promising technology, has been successfully applied in many aspects of the food industry and has shown promising results. This paper first introduces the basic principle and composition of the E-nose. Then it describes in detail the key elements, including gas sensor selection, sampling method design, data acquisition and information processing. Further summarizes the various typical applications of E-nose technology in the food industry in recent years, including six application directions: freshness assessment, process monitoring, flavor evaluation, authenticity evaluation, quality control, origin traceability and pesticide residue detection. Finally, the critical problems that need to be solved in the current application of E-nose technology in the food industry are discussed, and the potential future research directions in this field are foreseen.