Freshness evaluation of Trichiurus lepturus based on electronic nose

Smell is one of important indicators for judging the storage quality of aquatic product. Changes in volatile aroma and odor response of Trichiurus lepturus during different temperatures were characterized by electronic nose. Compared with the pH and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) analysis, a rapid evaluation method of T. lepturus freshness based on electronic nose was established. Smells of T.lepturus stored at 4℃ and 0℃ , respectively changed significantly during storage. Nitrogen oxides, sulfides, organic sulfides and aromatic components were the underlying source of the T. lepturus quality deterioration. T. lepturus with different degree of freshness could be distinguished by both principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) . The detection of electronic nose was basically consistent with the TVBN analysis.Results from this study suggested that electronic nose techniques might be utilized as a rapid measure of evaluating the freshness of T. lepturus.