Monitoring the aroma production during wine-must fermentation with an electronic nose

This work discusses the feasibility of using the electronic nose for the on-line and real-time monitoring of the production of a complex aroma profile during a bioconversion process. As a case study, the formation of the muscatel aroma during the wine-must fermentation was selected. During wine-must fermentation, aroma compounds responsible for the organoleptic character are produced in the ppm range, while simultaneously one of the main metabolic products, ethanol, is produced in much higher quantities (up to 10% wt). Because the sensors of the electronic nose array are cross-selective to different volatile compounds, it was investigated in detail how far the electronic nose was able to evaluate the aroma profile along the fermentation. This article discusses and evaluates subsequently the integration of a membrane separation process-organophilic pervaporation-for selectively enriching aroma compounds relative to ethanol, to improve sample discrimination. (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Inc.