Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for characterising, by means of an electronic nose, the release kinetics of odorous compounds from a sample, comprising the following series of steps: (a) supplying a sample; (b) at a time t1, exposing the sensor array of the electronic nose to some of the gaseous medium comprising the odorous compounds released from the sample, and processing the response emitted by the sensor array of the electronic nose, after said exposure, in the form of a signal; and (c) repeating step (b) at least once, at a time t2 different from the time t1, whereby an olfactory kinetic signature characterising the sample is obtained. The present invention also relates to the use of this method for anti-counterfeiting and/or quality control purposes and for generating a data bank or database of temporal olfactory signatures. The present invention finally relates to certain devices used when implementing such methods.