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Aroma Compounds

  • Chapter
Food Chemistry

Abstract

When food is consumed, the interaction of taste, odor and textural feeling provides an overall sensation which is best defined by the English word “flavor”. German and some other languages do not have an adequate expression for such a broad and comprehensive term. Flavor results from compounds that are divided into two broad classes: Those responsible for taste and those responsible for odors, the latter often designated as aroma substances. However, there are compounds which provide both sensations. Compounds responsible for taste are generally nonvolatile at room temperature. Therefore, they interact only with taste receptors located in the taste buds of the tongue. The four important basic taste perceptions are provided by: sour, sweet, bitter and salty compounds. They are covered in separate sections (cf., for example, 8.10, 22.3, 1.2.6, 1.3.3, 4.2.3 and 8.8). Glutamate stimulates the fifth basic taste (cf. 8.6.1). Aroma substances are volatile compounds which are perceived by the odor receptor sites of the smell organ, i. e. the olfactory tissue of the nasal cavity. They reach the receptors when drawn in through the nose (orthonasal detection) and via the throat after being released by chewing (retronasal detection). The concept of aroma substances, like the concept of taste substances, should be used loosely, since a compound might contribute to the typical odor or taste of one food, while in another food it might cause a faulty odor or taste, or both, resulting in an off-flavor.

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(2009). Aroma Compounds. In: Food Chemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69934-7_6

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