Abstract
Electronic nose (E-nose) devices represent one of the most trailblazing innovations in current technological research, since mimicking the functioning of the biological sense of smell has always represented a fascinating challenge for technological development applied to life sciences and beyond. Sensor array tools are right now used in a plethora of applications, including, but not limited to, (bio-)medical, environmental, and food industry related. In particular, the food industry has seen a significant rise in the application of technological tools for determining the quality of edibles, progressively replacing human panelists, therefore changing the whole quality control chain in the field. To this end, the present review, conducted on PubMed, Science Direct and Web of Science, screening papers published between January 2010 and May 2021, sought to investigate the current trends in the usage of human panels and sensorized tools (E-nose and similar) in the food industry, comparing the performances between the two different approaches. In particular, the focus was mainly addressed towards the stability and shelf life assessment of olive oil, the main constituent of the renowned “Mediterranean diet”, and nowadays appreciated in cuisines from all around the world. The obtained results demonstrate that, despite the satisfying performances of both approaches, the best strategy merges the potentialities of human sensory panels and technological sensor arrays, (i.e., E-nose somewhat supported by E-tongue and/or E-eye). The current investigation can be used as a reference for future guidance towards the choice between human panelists and sensorized tools, to the benefit of food manufacturers.
Highlights
One main question is: to what extent can the modification of the quality of a product be considered acceptable? It is prohibited to sell foods that are dangerous to health, since they contain microorganisms or toxins or chemical contaminants; in addition, foods unsuitable for human consumption, i.e., with sensory and/or nutritional characteristics below the expected standard, cannot be distributed
There is a need for the development of accurate instrumental techniques able to perform real-time measurements and generate the same information as a panel, in a reproducible and stable way, aiming to rapidly and efficiently achieve the correct
E-nose tools are more and more used in the food industry concerning tasks related to the Shelf life (SL) assessment of various edible products, and are partially replacing human panelists in such characterizations
Summary
It is prohibited to sell foods that are dangerous to health, since they contain microorganisms or toxins or chemical contaminants; in addition, foods unsuitable for human consumption, i.e., with sensory and/or nutritional characteristics below the expected standard, cannot be distributed In this context, EU legislation (EC Regulation No 1169/2011) established that the SL of a food, which could be defined as the “date of minimum durability”, must be labeled as: i) “best before” date, related to food quality, which indicates that, after that date, there might be a decline in the organoleptic qualities of the product, but it is still safe to be consumed without risk, preferably as soon as possible, or ii) “use by” date, related to food safety, beyond which the food is no longer safe [3]. The manufacturer is responsible for defining the SL duration, through laboratory tests, even if the legislation does not provide methods of assessment, leaving the arbitrariness of the choice to the producer
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
