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Food companies worldwide must constantly engage in product development to stay competitive, cover existing markets, explore new markets, and meet key consumer requirements. This ongoing development places high demands on achieving quality at all levels, particularly in terms of food safety, integrity, quality, nutrition, and other health effects. Food product research is required to convert the initial product idea into a formulation for upscaling production with ensured significant results. Sensory evaluation is an effective component of the whole process. It is especially important in the last step in the development of new products to ensure product acceptance. In that stage, measurements of product aroma play an important role in ensuring that consumer expectations are satisfied. To this end, the electronic nose (e-nose) can be a useful tool to achieve this purpose. The e-nose is a combination of various sensors used to detect gases by generating signals for an analysis system. Our research group has investigated the scent factor in some foodstuff and attempted to develop e-noses based on low-cost technology and compact size. In this paper, we present a summary of our research to date on applications of the e-nose in the food industry.

The present work is focused on the study of the characteristics of the fruits of four main lemon (Citrus limon L. Burm.) varieties cultivated in Sicily: 'Femminello Comune', 'Monachello', 'Zagara Bianca', and 'Femminello Santa Teresa'. Physical and chemical properties as well as aroma compounds were analysed as quality discrimination factors. Also the effect of the storage conditions was verified. Standard experimental techniques were used to determine: weight, longitudinal and transverse diameters, pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, juice percentage and total polyphenols. The volatile component was analysed by i) a gas chromatographer with a mass spectrometer detector and ii) an electronic olfactory system ("e-nose") equipped with an array of six MOS sensors. Most of the physical and chemical parameters analysed allowed a statistically significant discrimination among the factors cultivar and storage time. The aromatic pattern was similar for all the cultivars. Differences were observed after the storage at 18° C, particularly for the cultivar 'Monachello'.

A new prototype of Electronic Nose instrument, Multisensory Odor Olfactory System MOOSY32, with a processing method based on a multivariate classification analysis was used to assess different postharvest and storage treatments effects to Salustiana oranges. The analysis method is based on the measurement of the volatile compounds produced under different environmental and operational conditions. The Electronic Nose system revealed that orange juice flavor changes even when juices are analyzed right after each treatment and fruits are stored under refrigerated conditions. The instrument was able to detect even small changes in the aromatic pattern of the juices, confirming that the packing line itself is able to cause perceptible changes in the flavor. This can be a new and important finding in the Salustiana orange treatment that can lead to a significant improvement of fruits quality on the markets.