Detection of bacterial contaminated milk by means of a quartz crystal microbalance based electronic nose

Headspace analysis by means of sensor arrays has been successfully applied to a wide range of qualitative applications. In this study, a six element array of coated Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) sensors was used for the headspace analysis of milk volatiles. The sensors were exposed to uncontaminated samples of milk and samples contaminated with Pseudomonas fragi (Ps. fragi) or Escherichia coli (E. coli). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyse the sensor array responses. No discrimination between uncontaminated milk samples and those contaminated with Ps. fragi was observed. This can be explained by Ps. fragi being a poor fermenter of milk. However, encouraging results were found for the discrimination between the milk samples and those contaminated with E. coli.