Discrimination of Yves Saint Laurent perfumes by an electronic nose

Abstract

A new technique to discriminate Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) perfumes by means of an electronic nose is described. The perfume samples were deposited onto a paper strip placed inside a vial and evaporated for 20 s before closing the vial. The odorant samples were heated to 30°C and, using humidified synthetic air as the carrier gas, the perfume volatiles were passed through 18 metal-oxide semiconducting gas sensors. Changes in resistance at the sensor surface, exposed for 900 s to perfume volatiles of Paris eau de toilette, Paris eau de toilette with an off-odour, and Opium eau de toilette, were measured. A three-factor two-level factorial design was used to optimize the response of the sensors. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis showed the headspace injection volume (μl) as the most important variable in the model. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to select the sensors contributing to the discrimination of the eau de toilettes and to group the samples. Linear discriminant functional analysis (LDA) was used to classify the perfumes into their respective perfume families. A good discrimination of the YSL eau de toilettes could be obtained by the use of this technique. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.