Advances in isolation techniques for fruit volatiles and evaluation of their sensorial contribution

Abstract

The recent advances with the extraction methods by sorption: solid phase microextraction and stir bar sorptive extraction are summarized, with emphasis in applications in fruits, as well as the determination of the sensorial importance of volatile compounds to the flavor. Due to the variety and complex composition of the matrix found in the fruits and the class of information that it is sought to obtain of a study, it is of vital importance the selection of the appropriate analytic method. For reasons of objectivity, high reproducibility of the results, as well as the possibility to identify odors and their quantitative evaluation, the instrumental analysis not only constitutes an excellent supplement of the sensory evaluation, but it also becomes an indispensable tool in the complete analysis of the sensorial quality. The current focus is the combination of the instrumental method and the sensory evaluation. The use of gas chromatograph as an olfatometer and of humans as detector (GC-O) is an effective technique for the isolation and characterization of odorants.