Abstract：The volatile flavor compounds of Pacific saury stored at 4 ℃ were evaluated using a portable PEN-3 electronic nose (E-nose). The collected data were then analyzed by loadings analysis, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and principal component analysis (PCA) for correlation with pH value, sensory evaluation and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) as well as total bacterial counts. It turned out that the flavor of Pacific saury changed with storage time. The most significant changes were observed in the E-nose responses to nitrogen oxides, organic sulfur and inorganic sulfur compounds. Significant correlations existed between E-nose analysis and sensory evaluation, pH value and TVB-N value and total bacterial count. Therefore, electronic nose could provide a new way to rapidly identify the freshness of Pacific saury.
