Olfasense hosts international expert audience involved in odour testing in 2019 odour workshop

On 28 and 29 January 2019, the Olfasense team welcomed 45+ participants from 13 different nations to the annual Olfasense odour workshop on product and material testing.

               “Perfect mix of lab tour and presentations. Perfect workshop! Thank you Olfasense team.”

Dr. Marco Singer, Head of Fragrance Performance at the Symrise AG, kicked off the first workshop day with an excellent keynote address on how to objectively measure the performance of fragrances with a focus on longlasting, malodour reduction and blooming effects of fragrances.

In the following, Björn Maxeiner, director and head of P&M testing at Olfasense, provided a holistic overview of the possibilities in sensory and molecular odour testing and the most important principles to follow to achieve the highest possible quality standards.

One of the key elements of successful odour testing is the selection, training and monitoring of the noses in question, as Olfasense expert Dr. Nathalie Nibbe highlighted in her presentation, which also provided useful insights on the challenging setup of a GC sniffing panel to meet the stringent requirements of this sophisticated methodology.

The first workshop day was rounded off by a first round of different practical lab exercises, to provide skills, encourage participation and exchange information on topics, such as sampling & preparation, olfactometry, panel training, direct odour evaluation, comparative testing, indoor room evaluation, molecular screening, GC sniffing, and more.

We were glad to welcome another external expert as a keynote speaker of the second workshop day. Thomas Wortelmann, managing director of the GC-IMS specialist G.A.S. Dortmund, provided insights on trace gas analysis of volatiles using Gas Chromatography – Ion Mobility Spectrometry in different applications, especially product quality control.

Subsequently, Olfasense GC specialist Dr. Luciano Vera gave a vivid presentation on the multidimensional nature of odour chemistry and olfactory perception and demonstrated how GCMS and GC sniffing can provide approaches to overcome this challenging complexity.

Before the participants could again get active in the second round of practical lab sessions, Lieke van Genderen, consultant at Olfasense B.V., took the audience on a short excursion to the neuroscience of smell and visualised in case studies how research is acquiring new insights on how our brain reacts to odour.

The event was concluded by fragrance and flavour expert Dr. Hansruedi Gygax (Gygarome) who shared fascinating facts about the human sense of smell in his closing address “Visualisation and quantification of odours:  From concepts to meaningful measurements”.

On behalf of the whole Olfasense team, we thank all participants for joining us in our 2019 Olfasense odour workshop on product and material testing. We hope you all had a safe journey back home, with a suitcase full of ideas, inspiration and insights.

Last but not least, we are happy to announce that Olfasense will also organize an odour workshop in 2020. So please mark 29 and 30 of January 2020 in your calendars, and – if you would like to stay up to date, please sign up for our noseletter.

Your Olfasense Team

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