A surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor for the detection of odorants has been constructed by depositing various phospholipids and fatty acids onto the surface of the SAW device. The characteristics of a SAW device operating at 310 MHz deposited with silicon monoxide were analyzed. Menthone, amylacetate, acetoin, and other organic gases show different affinities to the coated lipids. An explanation is given for different odorant affinities based on the monolayer properties of phospholipids. The identification of odorants depending on the tkpe of lipid used for coating is discussed in terms of the similarity of their normalized resonant frequency shift patterns. Using a number of different lipid-coated SAW devices, odorants can be identified by a computerized pattern recognition algorithm.