Flavour research at TNO has been in progress for more than thirty years. It actually started with mainly qualitative studies. Nowadays increasing emphasis is being laid on quantitative aspects although sensory analysis still plays a very important role in our studies. A new field of research has been entered upon in the form of authenticity studies of fruit juice and wines. Knowledge of the composition of the products we are studying is essential in our work and updated reference material is compiled in our publication Volatile Compounds in Food. In the following further information about this publication will be given as well as examples of our studies on authenticity of fruit juices and wines, and off-flavours.
Volatile Compounds In Food
In 1962 Dr. C. Weurman initiated what is now called the “TNO list” or more officially “Volatile Compounds in Food--Qualitative Data.” Twenty years later we started a second series, “Volatile Compounds in Food--Qualitative Data." The presence of many volatile organic compounds in food and beverage products has been established over more than twenty years. The application of combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry in flavour research in the early sixties was the beginning of a rapid increase in the number of identified compounds, in fact hundreds of compounds per product. Some examples are presented in Table 1.
