Rapid prediction of ochratoxin A-producing strains of Penicillium on dry-cured meat by MOS-based electronic nose

• A MOS-based e-nose was applied to predict OTA-producing Penicillium strains.
• E-nose discriminated OTA-producing strains with high recognition percentages (88–98%).
• Seven volatile compounds related to the presence of OTA-producing strains were characterized.
• The first study of an e-nose applied to dry-cured meat at lab- and industrial-scale

The availability of rapid diagnostic methods for monitoring ochratoxigenic species during the seasoning processes for dry-cured meats is crucial and constitutes a key stage in order to prevent the risk of ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination. A rapid, easy-to-perform and non-invasive method using an electronic nose (e-nose) based on metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) was developed to discriminate dry-cured meat samples in two classes based on the fungal contamination: class P (samples contaminated by OTA-producing Penicillium strains) and class NP (samples contaminated by OTA non-producing Penicillium strains). Two OTA-producing strains of Penicillium nordicum and two OTA non-producing strains of Penicillium nalgiovense and Penicillium salamii, were tested. The feasibility of this approach was initially evaluated by e-nose analysis of 480 samples of both Yeast extract sucrose (YES) and meat-based agar media inoculated with the tested Penicillium strains and incubated up to 14 days. The high recognition percentages (higher than 82%) obtained by Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA), either in calibration and cross-validation (leave-more-out approach), for both YES and meat-based samples demonstrated the validity of the used approach. The e-nose method was subsequently developed and validated for the analysis of dry-cured meat samples. A total of 240 e-nose analyses were carried out using inoculated sausages, seasoned by a laboratory-scale process and sampled at 5, 7, 10 and 14 days. DFA provided calibration models that permitted discrimination of dry-cured meat samples after only 5 days of seasoning with mean recognition percentages in calibration and cross-validation of 98 and 88%, respectively. A further validation of the developed e-nose method was performed using 60 dry-cured meat samples produced by an industrial-scale seasoning process showing a total recognition percentage of 73%. The pattern of volatile compounds of dry-cured meat samples was identified and characterized by a developed HS-SPME/GC–MS method. Seven volatile compounds (2-methyl-1-butanol, octane, 1R-α-pinene, d-limonene, undecane, tetradecanal, 9-(Z)-octadecenoic acid methyl ester) allowed discrimination between dry-cured meat samples of classes P and NP. These results demonstrate that MOS-based electronic nose can be a useful tool for a rapid screening in preventing OTA contamination in the cured meat supply chain.