The research team worked with an e-nose that recognizes volatile compounds. Inside the device, 13 sensors chemically react with volatile compounds. Based on these interactions, the e-nose gives off electronic signals that the scientists analyze using computer software.

　　To test the nose, the team presented it with healthy leaves from cucumber, pepper and tomato plants, all common greenhouse crops. Then the scientists collected samples of air around damaged leaves from each type of crop. These plants had been damaged by insects, or by scientists who made holes in the leaves with a hole punch(打孔器).

　　The e-nose, it turns out, could identify healthy cucumber, peper and tomato plants based on the volatile compounds they produce. It could also identify tomato leaves that had been damaged. But even more impressive, the device could tell which type of damage—by insects or with a hole punch—had been done to the tomato leaves.

　　With some fine-tuning, a device like the e-nose could one day be used in greenhouses to quickly spot harmful bugs, the researchers say. A device like this could also be used to identify fruits that are perfectly ripe and ready to pick and eat, says Natalia Dudareva, a biochemist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. who studies smells of flowers and plants. Hopefully, scientists believe, the device could bring large benefits to greenhouse managers in the near future.

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