Cauliflower odorants

The family Cruciferae contains several economically important vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower. There has always been some ambivalence about the use of these vegetables. While some of them have desirable, pungent flavors, cooking odors tend to deter their consumption. It is stated that cauliflowers are rarely purchased in France and there is a relatively low consumption of sauerkraut in the USA.55... 

The brassicas of importance as foods include turnips, rutabagas, mustards, and the cole crops — cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. The production of isothiocyanates in brassicas is via an enzymatic reaction on specific glycosides. Some of the isothiocyanates, especially allylthiocyanate, are highly pungent and are mainly responsible for the odors of brown mustard, horseradish, cabbage, and other crucifers. Any process that destroys or inactivates enzymes in these plants will cause decreases in aroma production, resulting in a less distinctive flavor. This is usually the case when brassica foodstuffs are commercially preserved. 

Although there is a common view that isothiocyanates are important odor components of intact brassicaceous plants, field levels are extremely low and are usually below the level of detection of the usual analytical techniques. The principal vapor component of turnip and radish is hexenyl acetate see Chapter 2). Even in the case of disrupted tissue of cauliflower, turnip, radish, and wallflower (Alyssum), the principal component was Z-hex-3-enyl acetate (Wallbank and Wheatley, 1976). These data suggest that green leaf volatiles may be involved in the attraction of many species of insects to cruciferous plants. 

Sulfur compounds present in wine can have a detrimental effect on aroma character, producing odors described as garlic, onion and cauliflower, so-called Boeckser aroma. This sulfurous character is correlated with with 2-methyl-3-hydroxythiophene, 2-methyl-3-furanthiol and ethanethiol, and their concentrations in wine are influenced by winery procedures and the use of certain winemaking yeasts (105). Off-flavors in European wines were associated with the nonvolatile bis(2-hydroxyethyl) disulfide, a precursor to the poultry-like character of 2-mercaptoethanol and hydrogen sulfide (106). 

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