Abstract:

This paper presents a new method for fragrance evaluation: Direct Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry. All tests were performed with a set of six fragrances representing the sweet and 'gourmand' trend emerging during the 1990s. A preliminary study consisted of a flash profile of the fragrances directly smelled from jars, allowing a check that samples could be discriminated by non-expert subjects and still be positioned in a consistent sensory space. It was then conducted with naïve subjects who felt comfortable with the method and were able to position the samples according to similarities. Overall, this was less tiring than direct sensory evaluation and more representative of fragrance evaluation on perfumer's paper strips. When adjusting column length, a partial separation of the odor compounds was obtained, creating a complex stimulus more difficult to evaluate by untrained panelists, and yet which may provide better understanding of fragrance construction and of perception dynamics.