INDUSTRY TALK
Keeping up the balancing act between healthier and better tasting products
Natural flavours are more popular now than ever. Even artificial flavours simulate the characteristic of their natural counterpart. The results are sometimes extremely convincing. However, how do flavour companies proceed to create these ‘natural’ artificial flavours? Marí Carmen Inglés, flavourist at Scentium Flavours explains how the magic happens.
T
he analysis of volatile substances
oriented to identify which component
(OAV) for each of them was also calculated.
in a natural product is a classic
is important to define a specific flavour
A total of 49 volatile substances were
analytical problem, where each
profile. The measure of the smell intensity
identified, 21 of which presented an OAV≥1
phase - such as sample selection and
of a volatile substance is generally
preparation, sampling methods to isolate
expressed by its olfactory-odour
the volatile fraction - presents particular
threshold that it is defined as its lowest
and peculiar aspects of criticality. Each
concentration that can be perceived
analytical technique has its advantages
by nose. Uo value is defined by the
and disadvantages and all of them are
ratio between the concentration C of a
complementary to each other when
substance, defined via analytical methods,
studying the aromatic profile of a natural
and its odour threshold T, both expressed
product. Isolation of volatile compounds
in mg kg-1. Therefore to be perceived by
is a crucial and critical step of food
the sense of smell, a substance will have
analysis focused on aroma components
to have an Uo equal or above 1, because
investigation. Among the techniques used
its concentration will have to be equal
by Scentium, SAFE and SPME stand out.
or greater than its odour threshold. The
Once the volatile substances have been
higher the Uo, the higher the probability
"Isolation of volatile compounds is a crucial and critical step of food analysis focused on aroma components investigation."
Aldehydes represented the most
isolated, the compounds can be identified
that a volatile substance can contribute to
abundant chemical class in terms of
and quantified using Gas Chromatography-
the development of the overall aroma.
analytical concentration and their
Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas
contribution to develop the overall odour
EXTRACTING THE NATURAL TASTE OF A TOMATO
is very important. (Z)-3-hexenal, hexanal,
quantitative analysis allow flavourists
Let’s take the concrete case of a fresh
volatiles having the highest OAV. Other
to define the composition of the volatile
tomato. In order to identify the compounds
compounds such as β-ionone, guaiacol,
fraction, which is generally made up of a
responsible for the overall odour of this
3-methylthio propanal and furaneol
large number of compounds, but they do
fruit, its volatile fraction was isolated by
played an important role in developing the
not explain which substances play a role in
solvent extraction of the tomato fruit and
characteristic flavour of this particular
defining a specific aromatic profile. For this,
subsequent SAFE distillation. A GC-MS
tomato. Figure 1 shows the contribution
some techniques have been proposed to
system was used for the identification of
of volatile compounds in terms of their
find possible relationship between sensory
the compounds and a gas chromatography-
OAVs, expressed in a logarithmic scale.
perception and instrumental analysis.
flame ionisation detector for its semi-
The odourants having OAV≥1 were used
quantitation. The odour activity value
to prepare a recombination of the tomato
Chromatography-FID. The results of the qualitative and
The Odor Units (Uo) concept, theorised and developed by Guadagni et al., is
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September 2021 | FOOD RE VIEW
3-methylbutanal and decadienal were the
