Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds in Foods and Beverages that Impact Flavor

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2021) | Viewed by 28212

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co., P61 C996 Cork, Ireland
2. Adjunct Professor, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, T12 R229 Cork, Ireland
3. Adjunct Professor, School of Food Science and Environmental Health, Technical University of Dublin, Grangeorman, D07 XT95 Dublin, Ireland
Interests: the main focus of my research is directly related to flavour in foods and beverages; I am actively involved in advanced gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, covering areas of aroma extraction, method development and validation, data processing, comprehensive chromatography, olfactometery, lipidomics, and chemometrics; I am keen to utilise my expertise for the aroma profiling of whiskey styles
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over 10,000 volatile organic compounds are known to exist; however, it is also estimated than only 3–5% actually influence sensory perception in any given product. It is only relatively recently that we have had the instrumental capability to extract, separate, and identify these odor active volatile compounds, especially when present at very low concentrations in complex matrices. This is an exciting time for researchers involved in flavor chemistry as we evaluate new extraction approaches, techniques, instruments, and processes to better understand flavor generation in foods and beverages.

The potential of volatile organic compounds to influence sensory perception depends upon their odor activity (concentration and odor thresholds), but also on a host of other product factors. In order to progress our understanding of volatile aromatic compounds influencing flavor perception, more in-depth chemometric approaches are required to determine direct correlations between sophisticated analytical data and sensory science. This information can help producers to optimize existing products, potentially reduce losses, and create new targeted products for specific market segments. This work also encompasses metabolomics analysis in foods or crops in relation to flavor development. The term “flavoromics” has been created to encompass the chemometric analysis of large metabolomics data sets; however, it does not preclude the incorporation of any data that may directly or indirectly influence flavor development.

This Special Issue is open to any contribution wholly or partially investigating analytical approaches to enhance our understanding of the impact of aromatic volatile organic compounds on sensory perception of foods or beverages.

Prof. Kieran N. Kilcawley
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • volatile organic compounds
  • aromatic
  • flavoromics
  • foods
  • beverages
  • gas chromatography
  • mass spectrometry
  • odor activity values
  • sensory perception
  • instrumental analysis

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 1762 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Automated Extraction Techniques for Volatile Analysis of Whole Milk Powder
by Zeng Cheng, David T. Mannion, Maurice G. O’Sullivan, Song Miao, Joseph P. Kerry and Kieran N. Kilcawley
Foods 2021, 10(9), 2061; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10092061 - 1 Sep 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3641
Abstract
Volatile profiling of whole milk powder is valuable for obtaining information on product quality, adulteration, legislation, shelf life, and aroma. For routine analysis, automated solventless volatile extraction techniques are favored due their simplicity and versatility, however no single extraction technique can provide a [...] Read more.
Volatile profiling of whole milk powder is valuable for obtaining information on product quality, adulteration, legislation, shelf life, and aroma. For routine analysis, automated solventless volatile extraction techniques are favored due their simplicity and versatility, however no single extraction technique can provide a complete volatile profile due to inherent chemical bias. This study was undertaken to compare and contrast the performance of headspace solid phase microextraction, thermal desorption, and HiSorb (a sorptive extraction technique in both headspace and direct immersion modes) for the volatile analysis of whole milk powder by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Overall, 85 unique volatiles were recovered and identified, with 80 extracted and identified using a non-polar gas chromatography column, compared to 54 extracted, and identified using a polar gas chromatography column. The impact of salting out was minimal in comparison to gas chromatography column polarity and the differences between the extraction techniques. HiSorb extracted the most and greatest abundance of volatiles, but was heavily influenced by the number and volume of lactones extracted in comparison to the other techniques. HiSorb extracted significantly more volatiles by direct immersion than by headspace. The differences in volatile selectivity was evident between the techniques and highlights the importance of using multiple extraction techniques in order to obtain a more complete volatile profile. This study provides valuable information on the volatile composition of whole milk powder and on differences between extraction techniques under different conditions, which can be extrapolated to other food and beverages. Full article
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12 pages, 1269 KiB  
Article
Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Essential Oil from Omija (Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.) Produced by Supercritical Fluid Extraction Using CO2
by Jae-Hoon Lee, Yun-Yeol Lee, Jangho Lee, Young-Jin Jang and Hae-Won Jang
Foods 2021, 10(7), 1619; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071619 - 13 Jul 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3278
Abstract
Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., which is known as omija in South Korea, is mainly cultivated in East Asia. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical composition of essential oil from the omija (OMEO) fruit obtained by supercritical fluid extraction using CO2 [...] Read more.
Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., which is known as omija in South Korea, is mainly cultivated in East Asia. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical composition of essential oil from the omija (OMEO) fruit obtained by supercritical fluid extraction using CO2 and to confirm the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of OMEO using HaCaT human keratinocyte and RAW 264.7 murine macrophages. As a result of the chemical composition analysis of OMEO using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, a total of 41 compounds were identified. The detailed analysis results are sesquiterpenoids (16), monoterpenoids (14), ketones (4), alcohols (3), aldehydes (2), acids (1), and aromatic hydrocarbons (1). OMEO significantly reduced the increased ROS levels in HaCaT keratinocytes induced by UV-B irradiation (p < 0.05). It was confirmed that 5 compounds (α-pinene, camphene, β-myrcene, 2-nonanone, and nerolidol) present in OMEO exhibited inhibitory activity on ROS production. Furthermore, OMEO showed excellent anti-inflammatory activity in RAW 264.7 macrophages induced by lipopolysaccharide. OMEO effectively inhibited NO production (p < 0.05) by suppressing the expression of the iNOS protein. Finally, OMEO was investigated for exhibition of anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB pathway. Taken together, OMEO could be used as a functional food ingredient with excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Full article
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11 pages, 431 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Three Extraction Techniques for the Determination of Volatile Flavor Components in Broccoli
by Martyna Natalia Wieczorek, Małgorzata Majcher and Henryk Jeleń
Foods 2020, 9(4), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040398 - 31 Mar 2020
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4877
Abstract
To analyze aroma active components in a food product, the crucial step is to select a suitable extraction technique. It should provide isolation of all components responsible for aroma creation, without the formation of any artifacts during the procedure. Preferably, the extraction method [...] Read more.
To analyze aroma active components in a food product, the crucial step is to select a suitable extraction technique. It should provide isolation of all components responsible for aroma creation, without the formation of any artifacts during the procedure. Preferably, the extraction method should yield analyzed compounds in detectable levels. The presented study aimed to compare three popular extraction techniques used in flavor studies: solid-phase microextraction (SPME), solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE), and simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE) in order to isolate aroma components from broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica). Obtained extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography-olfactmetry (GC-O) to determine compounds with aroma activity as well as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-ToFMS) to identify them. Thirty-four aroma active compounds were detected in broccoli by the applied techniques. SPME and SAFE together gave the full profile of aroma active components on chromatograms from GC-O, without artifacts that occurred in the SDE extract. SPME was particularly useful in the identification of early eluting compounds, while SAFE enabled isolating compounds with relatively low partition coefficients. Despite all the disadvantages of the SDE method, it leads to the identification of pyrazines, which were important contributors to the overall aroma. Full article
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13 pages, 1634 KiB  
Article
Volatile Changes during Storage of Shelf Stable Apple Juice: Integrating GC-MS Fingerprinting and Chemometrics
by Biniam Kebede, Vivien Ting, Graham Eyres and Indrawati Oey
Foods 2020, 9(2), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9020165 - 10 Feb 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4499
Abstract
This is the first study to reveal potential markers for volatile changes during ambient and accelerated shelf life of pasteurized apple juice. The volatile changes were monitored at 20, 30 and 40 °C using a headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry fingerprinting method. Using [...] Read more.
This is the first study to reveal potential markers for volatile changes during ambient and accelerated shelf life of pasteurized apple juice. The volatile changes were monitored at 20, 30 and 40 °C using a headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry fingerprinting method. Using modern chemometrics and feature selection, hexanal, trans-2-hexenal, dimethyl sulphide, furfural, ethyl acetate and 1-pentanol were chosen as potential shelf life markers. Volatiles associated with the green, grassy and fresh apple aroma, such as hexanal and trans-2-hexenal, decreased during storage, whereas thermal load and browning associated compounds, like dimethyl sulphide and furfural, increased during storage. Hexanal and trans-2-hexenal can be markers to monitor the change in green-apple like character. Furfural and dimethyl sulphide can be markers of temperature abuse during juice processing and storage. Furfural can also be an indicator for juice browning. The present work effectively identified potential markers to monitor and predict volatile aroma changes of shelf stable apple juice in different storage conditions. Sensory analysis can be conducted in the future to confirm the aroma relevance of selected markers. Full article
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Review

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26 pages, 1636 KiB  
Review
Oxidative Quality of Dairy Powders: Influencing Factors and Analysis
by Holly J. Clarke, William P. McCarthy, Maurice G. O’Sullivan, Joseph P. Kerry and Kieran N. Kilcawley
Foods 2021, 10(10), 2315; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10102315 - 29 Sep 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5145
Abstract
Lipid oxidation (LO) is a primary cause of quality deterioration in fat-containing dairy powders and is often used as an estimation of a products shelf-life and consumer acceptability. The LO process produces numerous volatile organic compounds (VOC) including aldehydes, ketones and alcohols, which [...] Read more.
Lipid oxidation (LO) is a primary cause of quality deterioration in fat-containing dairy powders and is often used as an estimation of a products shelf-life and consumer acceptability. The LO process produces numerous volatile organic compounds (VOC) including aldehydes, ketones and alcohols, which are known to contribute to the development of off-flavours in dairy powders. The main factors influencing the oxidative state of dairy powders and the various analytical techniques used to detect VOC as indicators of LO in dairy powders are outlined. As the ability to identify and quantify specific VOC associated with LO improves this review highlights how these techniques can be used in conjunction with olfactory and sensory analysis to better understand product specific LO processes with the aim of maximizing shelf-life without compromising quality. Full article
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11 pages, 414 KiB  
Review
What Is the Relationship between the Presence of Volatile Organic Compounds in Food and Drink Products and Multisensory Flavour Perception?
by Charles Spence
Foods 2021, 10(7), 1570; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071570 - 6 Jul 2021
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4736
Abstract
This narrative review examines the complex relationship that exists between the presence of specific configurations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in food and drink products and multisensory flavour perception. Advances in gas chromatography technology and mass spectrometry data analysis mean that it is [...] Read more.
This narrative review examines the complex relationship that exists between the presence of specific configurations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in food and drink products and multisensory flavour perception. Advances in gas chromatography technology and mass spectrometry data analysis mean that it is easier than ever before to identify the unique chemical profile of a particular food or beverage item. Importantly, however, there is simply no one-to-one mapping between the presence of specific VOCs and the flavours that are perceived by the consumer. While the profile of VOCs in a particular product undoubtedly does tightly constrain the space of possible flavour experiences that a taster is likely to have, the gustatory and trigeminal components (i.e., sapid elements) in foods and beverages can also play a significant role in determining the actual flavour experience. Genetic differences add further variation to the range of multisensory flavour experiences that may be elicited by a given configuration of VOCs, while an individual’s prior tasting history has been shown to determine congruency relations (between olfaction and gustation) that, in turn, modulate the degree of oral referral, and ultimately flavour pleasantness, in the case of familiar foods and beverages. Full article
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