Sensors 2012, 12(2), 2152-2161; doi:10.3390/s120202152
Objective Display and Discrimination of Floral Odors from Amorphophallus titanum, Bloomed on Different Dates and at Different Locations, Using an Electronic Nose
1
Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of DNA Medicine, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
2
Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
3
Core Research Facilities, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
4
Flower Park Kagoshima, Kagoshima 891-0513, Japan
5
Botanical Gardens, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo 112-0001, Japan
6
Independent Researcher, Ibusuki, Kagoshima 891-0304, Japan
7
National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
8
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 January 2012 / Revised: 7 February 2012 / Accepted: 8 February 2012 / Published: 15 February 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Odor Detection: Electronic Nose, Olfactometer, and Advanced Instrumentation)
Abstract
As olfactory perceptions vary from person to person, it is difficult to describe smells objectively. In contrast, electronic noses also detect smells with their sensors, but in addition describe those using electronic signals. Here we showed a virtual connection method between a human nose perceptions and electronic nose responses with the smell of standard gases. In this method, Amorphophallus titanum flowers, which emit a strong carrion smell, could objectively be described using an electronic nose, in a way resembling the skill of sommeliers. We could describe the flower smell to be close to that of a mixture of methyl mercaptan and propionic acid, by calculation of the dilution index from electronic resistances. In other words, the smell resembled that of “decayed cabbage, garlic and pungent sour” with possible descriptors. Additionally, we compared the smells of flowers which bloomed on different dates and at different locations and showed the similarity of odor intensities visually, in standard gas categories. We anticipate our assay to be a starting point for a perceptive connection between our noses and electronic noses.Keywords:
electronic nose; FF-2A; semiconductor; Amorphophallus titanum; titan arum; smell; objective display; smell description
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Fujioka, K.; Shirasu, M.; Manome, Y.; Ito, N.; Kakishima, S.; Minami, T.; Tominaga, T.; Shimozono, F.; Iwamoto, T.; Ikeda, K.; Yamamoto, K.; Murata, J.; Tomizawa, Y. Objective Display and Discrimination of Floral Odors from Amorphophallus titanum, Bloomed on Different Dates and at Different Locations, Using an Electronic Nose. Sensors 2012, 12, 2152-2161.