Jiang Hui, Zhang Hang, Chen Quansheng, Mei Congli, Liu Guohai
School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People's Republic of China.
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People's Republic of China.
World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2015 Dec;31(12):1845-52. doi: 10.1007/s11274-015-1940-0. Epub 2015 Sep 4.
Microbial fermentation process is often sensitive to even slight changes of conditions that may result in unacceptable end-product quality. Thus, the monitoring of the process is critical for discovering unfavorable deviations as early as possible and taking the appropriate measures. However, the use of traditional analytical techniques is often time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this sense, the most effective way of developing rapid, accurate and relatively economical method for quality assurance in microbial fermentation process is the use of novel chemical sensor systems. Electronic nose techniques have particular advantages in non-invasive monitoring of microbial fermentation process. Therefore, in this review, we present an overview of the most important contributions dealing with the quality control in microbial fermentation process using the electronic nose techniques. After a brief description of the fundamentals of the sensor techniques, some examples of potential applications of electronic nose techniques monitoring are provided, including the implementation of control strategies and the combination with other monitoring tools (i.e. sensor fusion). Finally, on the basis of the review, the electronic nose techniques are critically commented, and its strengths and weaknesses being highlighted. In addition, on the basis of the observed trends, we also propose the technical challenges and future outlook for the electronic nose techniques.
微生物发酵过程通常对条件的微小变化都很敏感，这些变化可能导致最终产品质量无法接受。因此，对该过程进行监测对于尽早发现不利偏差并采取适当措施至关重要。然而，使用传统分析技术往往既耗时又费力。从这个意义上说，开发用于微生物发酵过程质量保证的快速、准确且相对经济的方法的最有效途径是使用新型化学传感器系统。电子鼻技术在微生物发酵过程的非侵入式监测方面具有特殊优势。因此，在本综述中，我们概述了使用电子鼻技术在微生物发酵过程质量控制方面的最重要贡献。在简要描述了传感器技术的基本原理之后，提供了一些电子鼻技术监测潜在应用的示例，包括控制策略的实施以及与其他监测工具（即传感器融合）的结合。最后，在综述的基础上，对电子鼻技术进行了批判性评论，突出了其优点和缺点。此外，根据观察到的趋势，我们还提出了电子鼻技术的技术挑战和未来展望。
