Electronic Nose and Use of Bags to Collect Odorous Air Samples in Meat Quality Analysis

To test EN reliability and use of bags on meat, 17 bulls (one group of 9 and one of 8) fed similarly, except for a supplementary feedingstuff, were used. Samples were prepared according to the MCS protocol and repeated three times on different days for a total of 51 samples. Bags were used to collect raw and cooked meat air samples, and to test odour changes among samples analysed at different times. The first time analysis was performed immediately after collection then was repeated ,1 hour, 1 day and 1 week later. The Electronic Nose is very discriminant and clear differences were evident among raw, cooked and bags odorous profiles. The highest values were found in cooked samples and the broad range class (W5S) was the most representative. The EN also recognized the two tested feed treatments. In the cooked samples, all sensor responses decrease while time enhances, indicating a progressive chemical variation of the air composition in the bag, with a less correlation shown in the raw samples. When using bags, to avoid bias, is important to fix analysis in order to obtain useful results.