Novel multi-gas chromatography-olfactometry device and software for the identification of odour-active compounds.

The aim of this work was to devise a novel fully computerised chromatography-olfactometry system where eight sniffers detect volatile compounds obtained from a single chromatographic separation. The technical options taken to implement this system are described in detail. The new methods and software developed and applied to analyse data obtained by gas chromatography-olfactometry and mass spectrometry (GC-O/MS) are presented. We found that 46 odorous zones could be detected by a panel of eight sniffers during the 35min of the analysis of the volatile compounds extracted from a cheese by purge-and-trap. Synchronisation of olfactometry and mass spectrometry data enabled us to propose 44 structures to account for 44 out of these 46 odorous zones.