Detection of 3-Carene in mango using a quartz crystal microbalance sensor

Abstract The potential of quartz crystal microbalance sensor as an efficient sensing platform has been exploited for the detection of most common volatile organic compounds (VOC) present in different varieties of mango. Beta Caryophyllene is an important sesquiterpene VOC present in mango. The justification of choosing this VOC as a fingerprint aroma arises due to its frequent presence in the aroma matrix of almost all mango cultivars. The cultivars chosen for this study are Langda, Chausa, Himsagar and Alphanso mango. In this pursuit, gold nanoparticle embedded 2- mercaptobenzothiazole capped sensing layer has been utilized for the detection purpose. Additionally, the sensor characteristics have been validated by sensitivity, selectivity, repeatability and reproducibility analyses. The life time of the sensor has been monitored for a couple of months. The sensor was found to be selective to the target gas and significantly circumvents the interference of other plausible aroma volatiles present in mango fruit aroma. The sensor response has been validated by analyzing real mango samples. Finally, the response of the sensor has been correlated with the gas chromatography mass spectroscopy estimation of the VOCs present in mango.