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Quality control of chocolate raw ingredients and finished products by electronic noses

The Alpha MOS analytical instruments for sensory analysis of odor and taste are very useful tools to rapidly assess the quality of raw materials and help maintaining high quality and consistent production of chocolate products.

Cocoa beans are very complex raw ingredients used to make the chocolate liquor used in chocolate and for cocoa powder manufacturing. More than 500 flavor compounds have been identified from cocoa beans! 

Assessing cocoa beans quality with an electronic nose
The Alpha MOS HERACLES Electronic Nose is used to rapidly control various cocoa beans batches and to investigate possible issues related to mold and fermentation VOC’s that are not easily detected by the current tests. The E-nose is highly sensitive to the volatile compounds contained in cocoa beans, and in particular to fermentation indicators that are relevant to aroma development and sensory quality. Therefore, the E-nose system can be employed to help maintaining high quality and consistent production.

Quality control monitoring of chocolate aroma with an electronic nose
The Alpha MOS FOX Electronic Nose is well-suited for the study of chocolate aroma ageing. The results show a good correlation with the manufacturing date and the results obtained by a sensory panel (accepted and rejected samples).

Detection of visual aspect changes of chocolate over ageing
In this study the Alpha MOS IRIS Analyzer was used to determine the proportion of fat blooming defect and to assess the overall visual conformity of the products. The results show that an objective and automated visual inspection of chocolate can be successfully achieved with the IRIS analyzer.


The Electronic Nose and Tongue: a powerful marketing and sales tools in the Japanese food and beverage industry

In Japan electronic nose and tongue instruments have been widely used as Research and Development tools particularly in the food, beverage and cosmetics industries for shelf life analysis or formulation developments. They are more and more used nowadays at the production floor as easy, reliable and fast organoleptic Quality Control instruments. They do give simple electronic signature correlated with the smell and taste qualities (quantitative or qualitative). They can also provide a chemical firewall instrument or early warning process indicators of any changes in the raw materials profiles or finished products qualities.

Electronic Nose and Tongue instruments are now included in sales and marketing tools. They are used by vendors in order to:

  • Guarantee objectively the batch to batch consistency of products to their customers by providing an electronic signature on every lot delivered
  • Outrun competitors by showing objective specifications of their products
  • Position their products versus competition

Electronic Nose and Tongue instruments can be not only part of a manufacturer's specifications under an electronic signature format within relationships with customers or suppliers, but they can also be used as powerful tools to objectivate the organoleptic the specifications of a manufacturer’s products.

This article presents examples where the Electronic Nose and Tongue are part of the marketing and sales efforts of food companies in Japan.

Alpha MOS HERACLES flash gas chromatography electronic nose
The HERACLES II is the most powerful and flexible electronic nose. This all-in-one instrument, both electronic nose and ultra fast gas chromatograph, performs overall odor profiling and chemical composition analysis in one run.

Alpha MOS Visual Analyzer
The IRIS VA 400 provides off-line instrumental analysis of visual appearance through a controlled and consistent image acquisition system and a powerful data processing software.

Articles


The Electronic Nose and Tongue: a powerful marketing and sales tools in the Japanese food and beverage industry

In Japan electronic nose and tongue instruments have been widely used as Research and Development tools particularly in the food, beverage and cosmetics industries for shelf life analysis or formulation developments. They are more and more used nowadays at the production floor as easy, reliable and fast organoleptic Quality Control instruments. They do give simple electronic signature correlated with the smell and taste qualities (quantitative or qualitative). They can also provide a chemical firewall instrument or early warning process indicators of any changes in the raw materials profiles or finished products qualities.

Electronic Nose and Tongue instruments are now included in sales and marketing tools. They are used by vendors in order to:

  • Guarantee objectively the batch to batch consistency of products to their customers by providing an electronic signature on every lot delivered
  • Outrun competitors by showing objective specifications of their products
  • Position their products versus competition

Electronic Nose and Tongue instruments can be not only part of a manufacturer's specifications under an electronic signature format within relationships with customers or suppliers, but they can also be used as powerful tools to objectivate the organoleptic the specifications of a manufacturer’s products.

This article presents examples where the Electronic Nose and Tongue are part of the marketing and sales efforts of food companies in Japan.

Application notes

Quality control monitoring of chocolate aroma with an electronic nose
The Alpha MOS FOX Electronic Nose is well-suited for the study of chocolate aroma ageing. The results show a good correlation with the manufacturing date and the results obtained by a sensory panel (accepted and rejected samples).

Detection of visual aspect changes of chocolate over ageing
Date of creation: 
21 November 2015
Library code: 
10443
Literature

Alpha MOS HERACLES flash gas chromatography electronic nose
The HERACLES II is the most powerful and flexible electronic nose. This all-in-one instrument, both electronic nose and ultra fast gas chromatograph, performs overall odor profiling and chemical composition analysis in one run.

Alpha MOS IRIS Visual Analyzer
Date of creation: 
15 October 2015
Library code: 
10281
Assessing cocoa beans quality with an electronic nose
Date of creation: 
21 November 2015
Library code: 
10444