Classification of tea category using a portable electronic nose based on an odor imaging sensor array.

A developed portable electronic nose (E-nose) based on an odor imaging sensor array was successfully used for classification of three different fermentation degrees of tea (i.e., green tea, black tea, and Oolong tea). The odor imaging sensor array was fabricated by printing nine dyes, including porphyrin and metalloporphyrins, on the hydrophobic porous membrane. A color change profile for each sample was obtained by differentiating the image of sensor array before and after exposure to tea's volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Multivariate analysis was used for the classification of tea categories, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) achieved 100% classification rate by leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV). This study demonstrates that the E-nose based on odor imaging sensor array has a high potential in the classification of tea category according to different fermentation degrees.