LIEKE VAN GENDEREN, NATHALIE NIBBE
Olfasense, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract

Tailoring an odour study to specific products and materials can be a complex task. The experts from the Olfasense laboratories provide an overview of commonly used methods in the fragrance industry.

Odours play an important part in our lives. Many of the products that we use in our daily lives have a fragrance added to it. The manufacturers of these perfumed products need some crucial information in order to fine-tune the fragrance of their products. During the development stage of a new product, it is necessary to know how people react to the products’ odour in different formulations. Is the smell in a new body lotion too strong? Or not strong enough? And how long is the perfume noticable after application? There are also products which are designed to reduce or mask malodours, such as detergents. For these products, information about the odour reduction efficacy is necessary.

Being able to perform high quality odour measurements does not only help R&D departments. Odour measurements are often used for Quality Control. It can happen that there is a certain off odour in a batch. This off odour needs to be recognized during QC checks, after which the source of the off odour needs to be found: which compound is responsible for generating the off odour? 

For a high quality measurement, three things are n ...