No abstract

Tequila, the fermented and twice-distilled juice of Agave tequilana, was extracted using dichloromethane. The extract obtained, which represented approximately 0.03% v/v of the original product, was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC), employing both flame ionization detection (FID) and sulfur chemiluminescence detection, as well as by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). More than 175 components were identified in the extract, accounting for more than 99% of the total GC FID peak area. The extract was also subjected to sensory analysis employing the technique of GC with odor port evaluation/aroma extract dilution analysis. More than 60 odorants were detected, at least 30 of which could be correlated with specific GC peaks arising from components found in the extract. On the basis of their detection in the most dilute extracts analyzed, five constituents were determined to be the most powerful odorants of tequila; these were isovaleraldehyde, isoamyl alcohol, β-damascenone, 2-phenylethanol, and vanillin. Efforts at reconstituting tequila flavor from its component parts were not successful, however, indicating that further significant contributors to tequila flavor remain to be identified.

The incorporation and retention on storage of a variety of flavor compounds spray-dried in a-, b-, and g-cyclodextrins (CyDs) was evaluated. CyD/flavor complexes were stored at 20 or 40 °C (and 65 or 80% relative humidity), and losses during both the inclusion process and the subsequent storage period were monitored analytically. g-CyD generally functioned best in terms of initial flavor retention. On storage, however, losses of volatiles were greatest for g-CyD and least in the case of a-CyD. The results suggest that CyD encapsulation via spray-drying involves matrix entrapment as well as molecular inclusion. CyDs were nonetheless found to stabilize several problematic labile flavor compounds.

a Flavor perception involves, among a number of physiological and psychological processes, the recognition of chemicals by olfactory and taste receptors. The highly complex and multidimensional nature of flavor perception challenges our ability to both predict and design new flavor entities. Toward this endeavor, classifications of flavor descriptors have been proposed. Here, we developed a fingerprint-based representation of a large data set comprising 4181 molecules taken from the commercially available Leffingwell & Associates Canton, Georgia, USA database marketed as Flavor-Base Pro © 2010. Flavor descriptions of the materials in this database were composite descriptions, collected from numerous sources over the course of more than 40 years. The flavor descriptors were referenced against a detailed and authoritative sensory lexicon (ASTM, American Society for Testing and Materials publication DS 66) comprising 662 flavor attributes. Comparison of clustering analysis, principal component analysis, and descriptor associations provided similar conclusions for various mutually correlated descriptors. Regarding analysis of the flavor similarity of the molecules, the clustering performed provided a means for the quick selection of molecules with either high or low flavor similarity description. Preliminary comparison of the chemical structures to the flavor description demonstrated the feasibility but also the complexity of this task. Additional studies including different structural representations, careful selection of subsets from this data set, as well as the use of a number of classification methods will demonstrate the utility of structure-flavor associations. This work shows that the flavor information contained in databases, such as that used in the present study, can be analyzed following standard chemoinformatics methods.

Three commonly used flavor industry solvents (propylene glycol, triacetin, and triethyl citrate) were tested for their capacity to interfere with the ability of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrin to form molecular inclusion complexes with flavors. Six flavor compounds (ethyl butyrate, ethyl heptanoate, l-menthol, methyl anthranilate, neral, and geranial) were measured by headspace gas chromatography above 2:1 water/ethanol containing appropriate additions of cyclodextrin and flavor solvent. The smallest and most polar solvent molecule represented by propylene glycol had the least effect on cyclodextrin/flavorant complex formation. In contrast, triacetin, intermediate in size among the three flavor diluents studied, had the greatest effect, even though, based on at least some computed molecular parameters, it appears to be more polar than triethyl citrate. The explanation for this apparent anomaly may lie in differences in the extent to which triacetin and triethyl citrate are able to interact with cyclodextrins by means of partial interaction with the hydrophobic cavities of the latter.