Hans-Dieter-Belitz-Institute for Cereal Grain Research

Flavour Analysis

The volatile fractions of foods which also contain the aroma compounds are highly complex in their composition. coffee, e.g., contains more than 1000, milk chocolate more than 600 and bread (crumb and crust) at least the same number of volatile components. In co-operation with the German Research Centre for Food Chemistry and the Institute for Food Chemistry of theTechnical University of Munich a concept has been developed that enables to select the relevant odourants in such complex fractions. The critical point of this concept is the use of the human nose as biosensor (HRGC-sniffing; odour threshold values) in combination with instrumental analysis (capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry).


Scheme of an apparatus for the isolation of odourants ("SAFE")		Sniffing of the carrier gas of a gas chromatograph		Structures of the most important aroma compounds of wheat bread crust

By using this technique, the key odourants of wheat and rye bread, toasted bread and French baguette have been identified. Future research is directed to optimise the aroma of sour dough and breads made from sour dough by selecting suitable raw materials or processing conditions on the basis of an exact quantitative analysis (isotope dilution analysis with stable isotopomers).

The flavour of many foods, e.g., of coffee or bakery products, is formed from odourless precursors of the raw materials. Chemosensors for the quantification of aroma compounds are innovative analytical tools to measure, e.g., the aroma development during roasting or baking. In co-operation with the Institute of Applied Physics of the University of Gießen and the Institute of Inorgannic Chemistry of the Technical University of Munich, an equipment has recently been tested for the evaluation of sensor/odourant signals. On the basis of this fundamental research, a sensor array (standardised primary aroma nose) for the evaluation of baking quality has been developed.

Facilities	Baking	Rheology	Chemical Analysis	Homepage