Instrumental analysis, odor profiles

Comparison of Different White Wine Varieties in Odor Profiles by Instrumental Analysis and Sensory Studies... 

Guth, H. (1998) Comparison of different white wine varieties in odor profiles by instrumental analysis and sensory studies. In Waterhouse, A.L., Ebeler, S.E. (eds.) Chemistry of Wine Flavor, ACS Symposium Series 714, pp. 39-52... 

Reiners et al. employed a sensory analysis to check whether the results of the instrumental analyses were in agreement with their flavor profiles. The sensory panel used, consisted of nine experienced assessors, seven males and two fanales, aged 25-35 years. The sample was sniffed by the panelists (nasal evaluation) and then rinsed into the mouth (retronasal evaluation). The intensities of the odor characteristics of the olive oils scored as above on a category scale from 0 to 3.0. After an outlier test, the results were expressed as means (standard deviations). Apple-like and green notes were characteristic for the Italian oil, whereas the Spanish oil smelled intensely like black currants and the flavor of the Moroccan oil came close to eating black olives. Olive oils of several types and cultivars were sensory evaluated for main attributes by various composition panels giving important results. 

The objective of modern flavor analysis is to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the flavor profile imparted by nature and thus to identify those substances responsible for the flavor of a food. In recent years, a combination of sensory methods and instrumental analytical procedures has made a major contribution toward reaching this objective. Thanks in particular to the concept of odor activity value, which has been steadily refined at the German Research Institute for Food Chemistry in Garching (Technical University of Munich) during the past decade, it is today possible to make well-founded statements about the odor activity of volatile flavor compounds in foods (112-116). With the aid of the odor activity value concept, it is possible to identify those components of the extremely complicated flavor profiles that are of key importance for the specific flavor of a food. 

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