Prof. Erich Leitner
(Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria)

Erich Leitner studied the Technical Chemistry at the Graz University of Technology where he obtained PhD on organic trace analysis and habilitation in "Food Chemistry". He is the head of the research group "Food chemistry and Human Sensory Analysis" at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry at the Graz University of Technology.
He has almost thirty years of research experience in the field of gas chromatographic techniques. The main focus is the identification of odour active molecules in food and in food contact material mainly based on gas chromatographic technique. Several one and two dimensional techniques are applied in combination with different sample preparation regimes and detection systems for method optimization.
In addition the research group runs a trained expert panel and a sensory lab with 15 booths for specific tasks related to odour problems. The panel and the specific equipment of the sensory lab fulfil the requirements given by European standards. The sensory panel is required for sensory threshold determination to estimate the odour potential of single odorants.