Vladivostok scientists create electronic nose
Baku, April 19 (AZERTAC). Scientists from Russian city of Voronezh have developed so-called “electronic nose” - a device, which can distinguish natural ingredients (fruits and berries) from artificial flavors in dairy products by smell. This new device has finest olfaction due to a system of piezoelectric sensors, and special software helps the “nose” to distinguish and remember various smells.
Requirements to some food products are really strict - baby nutrition and diet products are considered to be of highest quality, thus making these products more expensive. Unfortunately, some dishonest food producers substitute costly natural fruit ingredients with cheap imitations, which often aren`t mentioned on product`s label. Evidence for presence of such substitutes is very hard to find, because tasty natural aromas are usually complex mixtures of highly volatile substances of various chemical origin, thus identifying it with common chemical methods can be a problem. The only solution to the moment was a professional advice from experts.
New Russian development offers quick and simple solution to described problem. Of course, it won`t make natural strawberry jam from red-colored strawberry-flavored apple puree, but it can distinguish one from another without any time-consuming sample preparation and identification of components. Said device works similar to human nose.
All this makes counterfeits tremble. Scientists claim synthetic flavors smell completely different from natural fruits and berries, and Russian “electronic nose” allows telling whether delicious smell of yoghurt is natural or artificial.
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