Electronic nose guided determination of frying disposal time of sunflower oil using fuzzy logic analysis.

An electronic nose (e-nose), having 18 metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors, guided determination of frying disposal time of sunflower oil is reported. The ranking and screening of MOS sensors, specific for volatile organic compounds, was performed using fuzzy logic. A correlation was examined between rancidity indices of fried oil (total polar compounds (TPC), and triglyceride dimers-polymers (TGDP), among others) and e-nose based odor index. Fuzzy logic screened 6 MOS sensors (LY2/G, LY2/AA, LY2/GH, LY2/gCT1, T30/1, and P30/1) to deconvolute the rancid fried oils using hierarchical clustering on principal component space. A good relationship was noted between rancidity indices and odor index (R>0.85). Based on maximum discard limits of rancidity indices (25% TPC and 10% TGDP), the frying disposal time of 15.2h (TPC) vs. 15.8h (e-nose) and 15.5h (TGDP) vs. 16.3h (e-nose) was determined. The demonstrated methodology holds a potential extension to different fried oils and products.