Odor threshold value aroma substance

Many nitrogen- and sulfur-containing heterocycles have been identified in the aroma fractions of foods [214]. In roasted products (e.g., coffee) and heat-treated foods (e.g., baked bread or fried meat), these heterocycles are formed from reducing sugars and simple or sulfur-containing amino acids by means of Maillard reactions [215, 216]. Their odor threshold values are often extremely low and even minute amounts may significantly contribute to the aroma quality of many products [217, 218]. Therefore, N- and N,S-heterocyclic fragrance and flavor substances are produced in far smaller quantities than most of the products previously described. 

The purity requirement imposed on synthetic aroma substances is very high. The purification steps usually used are not only needed to meet the stringent legal requirements (i. e. beyond any doubt safe and harmless to health), but also to remove undesirable contaminating aroma compounds. For example, menthol has a phenolic off-flavor note even in the presence of only 0.01% thymol as an impurity. This is not surprising since the odor threshold value of thymol is lower than that of 1 (—)-menthol by a factor of 450. 

Aroma value the ratio of the concentration to ortho-or retronasal odor threshold value of the substance in water. 

Characteristic aroma components in foods and off-flavor substances in processed foods are called character impact compounds. It would be desirable to develop methods for finding such compounds with sensory methods because such information is useful in the food industry. A compilation of odor and taste threshold values was edited by Fazzalari (7). Olfactory-trigeminal response to odorants was measured using rabbits (2). However, aroma quality can be evaluated only by human sense. In spite of this fact, olfactory judgment by humans can not give constant data like... 

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