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The Identification and Chararcterization of Key Aroma-Active/Taste-Active Compounds in Foods

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Analytical Methods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 January 2024) | Viewed by 8339

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Prof. Dr. Huanlu Song

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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Molecular Sensory Science, School of Food and Health, Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU), Beijing 100048, China
Interests: food-flavor chemistry; food additives

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Flavor is an important factor of foods.

Why determine the identities and concentrations of flavor components of a food?

(1) Knowledge of the chemical nature and structure of the principal flavor constituents of a food can aid in the development of new and improved products (for instance, process/ingredient optimization, optimization/evaluation of storage conditions, and shelf-life testing);

(2) Can lead to the source of off-flavors or chemical taints;

(3) Can aid in the quality assurance or grading of products (fingerprinting of products/raw materials, assurance of “naturalness” of products);

(4) Basic research: physiological structure–function (attribute) relationship of specific flavor-active chemicals, e.g., aroma compound–protein interactions;

(5) Comparison of the sensory attributes of a food to its (complex) chemical composition (e.g., relating the sensory aroma profile to volatile and non-volatile flavor compositions).

By using the state-of-the-art flavor-analysis techniques, the key flavor compounds can be identified, and their possible formation pathway might be deduced; the quality control of foods during their manufacture and storage can be achieved from their flavor.

Prof. Dr. Huanlu Song
Guest Editor

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Keywords

flavor
aroma
taste
aroma-active compounds
taste-active compounds
OAV
chemometrics

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 6528 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aroma Identification and Classification in 18 Kinds of Teas (Camellia sinensis) by Sensory Evaluation, HS-SPME-GC-IMS/GC × GC-MS, and Chemometrics

by Yanping Lin, Ying Wang, Yibiao Huang, Huanlu Song and Ping Yang

Foods 2023, 12(13), 2433; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12132433 - 21 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1857

Abstract

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most popular beverages worldwide. Many types of tea products continuously emerge in an endless stream; so, the classification of tea becomes more difficult. Aroma is a vital indicator of tea quality. The present study deals with the identification of aroma compounds in 18 different kinds of tea belonging to three typical tea varieties, including green tea, oolong tea, and black tea, using GC-IMS and GC × GC-O-MS. Moreover, the clustering of all 18 tea samples and the in depth correlation analysis between sensory evaluation and instrumental data were performed using the PCA and OPLS-DA. The results revealed that in all 18 kinds of tea, a total of 85 aroma compounds were detected by GC-IMS, whereas 318 were detected by GC × GC-O-MS. The PCA result revealed that green tea, oolong tea, and black tea could be clearly separated based on their peak areas. The OPLS-DA result showed that a total of 49 aroma compounds with VIP value > 1.0 could be considered as the potential indicators to quickly classify or verify tea types. This study not only compared the aroma differences across different types of teas, but also provided ideas for the rapid monitoring of tea quality and variety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Identification and Chararcterization of Key Aroma-Active/Taste-Active Compounds in Foods)

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15 pages, 7174 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparing the Volatile and Soluble Profiles of Fermented and Integrated Chinese Bayberry Wine with HS-SPME GC–MS and UHPLC Q-TOF

by Yingjie Miao, Gaowei Hu, Xiaolong Sun, Yashi Li, Huanting Huang and Yongqian Fu

Foods 2023, 12(7), 1546; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12071546 - 06 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1381

Abstract

To evaluate the flavor characteristics of Chinese bayberry alcoholic beverages, fermented bayberry wine (FBW) and integrated bayberry wine (IBW) were investigated for their volatile and soluble profiles using HS-SPME GC–MS and UHPLC Q-TOF and were analyzed with multidimensional statistical analysis, including PCA and OPLS-DA. The volatile compounds 1-pentanol, β-caryophyllene and isopentanol were only detected in IBW. β-caryophyllene, the key flavor component of bayberry, was found to be the most abundant volatile compound in IBW (25.89%) and was 3.73 times more abundant in IBW than in FBW. The levels of ethyl octanoate, ethyl nonanoate, and ethyl decanoate were also several times higher in IBW than in FBW. These compounds contributed to the strong bayberry aroma and better fruity flavor of IBW. On the other hand, high levels of ethyl acetate and octanoic acid in FBW, representing pineapple/overripe or sweat odor, were key contributors to the fermented flavor of FBW. Soluble sugars, such as sucrose, D-glucose, and D-tagatose, as well as amino acids, such as L-glutamate and L-aspartate, had much higher levels in IBW. The anthocyanin pigment cyanidin 3-glucoside, which generates red color, was also higher in IBW. On the other hand, most of the differentially expressed alcohols, acids, amino acids, purines/pyrimidines and esters were present in higher concentrations in FBW compared to IBW. This demonstrated that IBW has a much sweeter and more savory taste as well as a better color generated by more anthocyanins, while FBW presents a more acidic and drier taste as well as a complex formation of alcohols and esters. The study also prompts the need for further research on the flavor profiles of IBW and its potential application and market value. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Identification and Chararcterization of Key Aroma-Active/Taste-Active Compounds in Foods)

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13 pages, 4068 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Discrimination and Characterization of Volatile Flavor Compounds in Fresh Oriental Melon after Forchlorfenuron Application Using Electronic Nose (E-Nose) and Headspace-Gas Chromatography-Ion Mobility Spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS)

by Qi Wang, Xueying Chen, Chen Zhang, Xiaohui Li, Ning Yue, Hua Shao, Jing Wang and Fen Jin

Foods 2023, 12(6), 1272; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061272 - 16 Mar 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1517

Abstract

Aroma is a crucial factor determining the market value and consumer satisfaction of fresh oriental melon. However, few studies focus on the volatile flavor of fresh oriental melon, and the effect of forchlorfenuron application on the aroma profile is unclear. This study characterized the volatile profile of fresh oriental melon fruit after forchlorfenuron application by E-nose and HS-GC-IMS. The holistic variation of volatile compounds exhibited evident distinction based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA) with E-nose. Forty-eight volatile compounds were identified from fresh oriental melon via GC-IMS, mainly esters, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones, along with smaller quantities of sulfides and terpenes. Compared to pollination melon fruits, 13 critical different volatile flavor compounds were screened out in forchlorfenuron application groups by the PLS-DA model, imparting sweet fruity flavor. The results of the current study provide a valuable basis for evaluating the flavor quality of oriental melon after forchlorfenuron treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Identification and Chararcterization of Key Aroma-Active/Taste-Active Compounds in Foods)

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15 pages, 6744 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Succession and Diversity of Microbial Flora during the Fermentation of Douchi and Their Effects on the Formation of Characteristic Aroma

by Huiyan Zhao, Jingting Xu, Ruican Wang, Xinran Liu, Xingyun Peng and Shuntang Guo

Foods 2023, 12(2), 329; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12020329 - 10 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1783

Abstract

This study aims to understand the development and succession of the microbial community during the production of traditional Aspergillus-type Douchi as well as their effects on the formation and variation of characteristic aroma compounds. High-throughput sequencing technology, solid-phase microextraction, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and Spearman correlation analysis were conducted to study the changes in the microbial community and characteristic flavor during the fermentation process. Aspergillus spp. was dominant in the early stage of fermentation, whereas Staphylococcus spp., Bacillus spp., and Millerozyma spp. became dominant later. At the early stage, the main flavor compounds were characteristic soy-derived alcohols and aldehydes, mainly 1-hexanol, 1-octen-3-ol, and nonanal. In the later stage, phenol, 2-methoxy-, and 3-octanone were formed. Correlation analysis showed that six bacterial genera and nine fungal genera were significantly correlated with the main volatile components, with higher correlation coefficients, occurring on fungi rather than bacteria. Alcohols and aldehydes were highly correlated with the relative abundance of bacteria, while that of yeast species such as Millerozyma spp., Kodamaea spp., and Candida spp. was positively correlated with decanal, 3-octanol, 2-methoxy-phenol, 4-ethyl-phenol, 3-octanone, and phenol. The novelty of this work lies in the molds that were dominant in the pre-fermentation stage, whereas the yeasts increased rapidly in the post-fermentation stage. This change was also an important reason for the formation of the special flavor of Douchi. Correlation analysis of fungi and flavor substances was more relevant than that of bacteria. As a foundation of our future focus, this work will potentially lead to improved quality of Douchi and shortening the production cycle by enriching the abundance of key microbes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Identification and Chararcterization of Key Aroma-Active/Taste-Active Compounds in Foods)

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14 pages, 2107 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Untargeted Profiling and Differentiation of Volatiles in Varieties of Meat Using GC Orbitrap MS

by Youyou Yang, Jing Li, Jiangtao Xing, Weihai Xing, Chaohua Tang, Zhenghua Rao and Junmin Zhang

Foods 2022, 11(24), 3997; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11243997 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1256

Abstract

Volatile compounds play vital roles in food sensory attributes and food quality. An analysis of volatile compounds could illustrate the sensory attributes at the microscale level. Here, untargeted profiling approaches for volatiles in five most-consumed meat species were established using headspace SPME-GC/high resolution Orbitrap MS. An extended high-resolution database of meat volatile compounds was established to enhance the qualification accuracy. Using sulfur-containing compounds, aldehydes, and ketones as the research model, the parameters including fiber coating types, extraction temperature, extraction time, and desorbing time were optimized. Principle component analysis, volcano analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis were applied to run the classification and the selection of discriminant markers between meat varieties, respectively. Different varieties could be largely distinguished according to the volatiles’ profiles. 1-Octen-3-ol, 1-octen-3-one, 2-pentyl furan and some other furans degraded from n-6 fatty acids would contribute to distinguishing duck meat from other categories, while methyl esters mainly from oleic acid as well as dimethyl sulfoxide and carbon disulfide possibly produced from the sulfur-containing amino acids contributed to the discrimination of beef. Therefore, volatiles’ profiling not only could interpret the aroma style in meat but also could be another promising method for meat differentiation and authentication. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Identification and Chararcterization of Key Aroma-Active/Taste-Active Compounds in Foods)

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