Odour testing for product & material optimisation

Specially trained human noses, so-called odour panellists, are used to reliably measure the perception of odours. Depending on the standard or guideline applied, these odour panellists must meet certain requirements. For example, if you want to measure the odour concentration in accordance with EN 13725, each of the assessors on the odour panel must have an average odour sensitivity for the reference odour substance n-butanol. In this example, the odour assessors must not react too sensitively or insensitively to n-butanol. This way, we guarantee results with the help of an odour panel that is representative of the population.

To this day, the human nose is more sensitive to some odour substances than any machine. Nevertheless, there are some laboratory instruments that can be used to identify and quantify specific chemical compounds that trigger odour perception. The most powerful methods such as GC-Sniffing-MS combine the information obtained with the help of a chemical sensor with the olfactory assessment by a human nose.

The right odour measurement method depends on the purpose of your assay. If you want to assess the perception of odours by humans in terms of acceptance, hedonic tone, intensity or odour character, human odour panellists are required. However, if you want to dive into the chemical composition of a certain odour, for example, to determine the cause of an unwanted odour, a chemical odour analysis can provide the desired results.

The parameters depend on the odour-related question. Human sensory methods for odour measurement include, among others the parameters of odour intensity, odour character, hedonic tone (odour pleasantness) and odour concentration. Molecular odour measurement techniques, such as GC-MS and FID measurements, are often used to gain insight into the chemical composition of an odour. For the identification of malodours, these sensory and chemical measurements are often combined, e.g. in a GC sniffing odour measurement.

Odour comparisons between products can be carried out using a variety of parameters. Most often, the odour concentration, odour intensity and hedonic tone, i.e. the question of how pleasant or unpleasant an odour is perceived, are examined. If you want to identify the differences in the molecular composition of certain odours, a chemical odour analysis is useful.

Yes. We have been supporting our clients in setting up their own internal odour laboratories since 1996. Our Olfasense full-service package offers you everything you need to equip a professional odour laboratory – from training the odour assessors to the necessary equipment for odour analyses.