Page 23 - Shimadzu Journal vol.3 Issue2

Flavor Release Evaluation

Flavor release evaluation kit can be used as a tool in food
development for evaluating flavors released during chewing

by Robert H. Clifford, PhD, and Satoshi Yamaki, PhD

Food knows no boundaries. As people immigrate around the world A new tool has been developed to evaluate the subjective texture
they bring the culture and favorite recipes with them. Food of a food product, and simultaneously collect aromatic compounds
companies try to duplicate these recipes but need to offer some that are released during chewing shown in Fig. 2 by the “EZ Test
advantages whether it is meal preparation time, cooking time, cost Release Evaluation Kit”. The evaluation tool seals the sample, the
or some combination of these. The problem is sometimes the sample holder, and plunger in a dedicated sample bag. It is able to
recipes aren’t quite right as the texture and flavors are slightly off. perform the texture evaluation test in the sealed sample bag, and
capture the released flavor and aroma compounds for subsequent
The perceived taste of food is related to both the flavor of the food analysis during the texture testing process.
and as well as the texture. The human mouth is able to ascertain
and describe food texture in terms of hardness, adhesiveness, Flavor-release measurements can be made before and after each
cohesiveness, brittleness, elasticity, gumminess, and chewiness. texture test. The amount and composition of the flavors and
These parameters can be defined using a mechanical testing aromas released by each “chew”, or series of “chews”, can then
machine as shown in Fig. 1. At the same time, the flavors of food be compared. The flavor compounds are collected by solid-phase
released during the chewing process are detected subjectively by micro-extraction (SPME). The SPME unit is then inserted into a
the nose. Each discrete “chew” may release different types of heated injection port of a GCMS where the flavors are released
aromatic flavors as well as different concentrations, depending on and analyzed.
the type of food.
Texture and flavor are important factors in the taste of foods. In
The mouth can only detect 5 unique tastes which are sweet, sour, this application a piece of an apple was evaluated for the flavor
salt, bitter and umami (savory); however it has been estimate the released during the “chewing” process. The results of flavor
nose can detector anywhere from 10,000 to a trillion different analysis of the apple by GCMS are shown in Fig. 3. The gray
odors. Thus in recent years much attention in research and chromatogram shows the flavor analysis before the texture test,
development has turned to evaluation of the favors released during and the red chromatogram is after the texture test. By comparing
chewing. the gray and red chromatograms, it can be seen that some peaks
increased in intensity and some peaks remained the same. The

Fig. 1 Texture Analysis Parameters by Universal Testing Machine

49