Early detection and differentiation of spoilage of bakery products

There is potential to differentiate between different types of bread spoilage using a Bloodhound BH-114 electronic nose. Microbial spoilage caused by bacteria, yeast and fungi, and enzymic spoilage caused by lipoxygenase can de differentiated from one another and from unspoiled bread analogues after 48 h using Cluster analysis, prior to signs of visible spoilage. Analysis of the bread analogues with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry identified volatiles produced by the different spoilage types and unspoiled bread analogues. Microbial analysis showed that the levels of each micro-organism used increased with time.