Volatile organic sulfur compounds are important constituents for the flavor of food, beverages and natural isolates. Character-impact sulfur compounds have been found in foods (bread, potato and prepared meat), beverages (beer and coffee), vegetables (aIlium species, truffle and radish), fruits (grapefruit, pineapple, grape, tomato, melon, passion fruit and black currant) and natural isolates like essential oils, absolutes and oleoresins (rose, hop, galbanum, absinth, cassia, patchouli, pepper, helichrysum and geranium). These character-impact sulfur compounds are, often in a certain low concentration, characteristic for the sensory properties of the material. Although these facts are generally accepted in the flavor and fragrance industry, still some questions can be put forward, namely:
l What are the identities of these compounds?
l What are their sensory properties? That is, what is their odor and flavor character and in which concentration can they be perceived?
In this article we will try to answer these questions as much as possible mainly based on a survey of the available literature.
