Odor Approximation Using Mass Spectrometry

Since a set of odor components that can cover a wide range of smells have not been yet revealed, we studied a selection of odor components using an essential-oil mass spectrum database. Basis vectors were extracted using the nonnegative matrix factorization method, and then the nonnegative least-squares method was used to determine the recipe. The odor approximations of the three typical essential oils were evaluated by a sensory test. It was found that the mass spectrum data were correlated with the sensory test results. Moreover, this correlation was particularly high in the high m/z region.