We created a computer database based on information from 1400 volatile food compounds. The database can be searched by “chemical compounds” or “food products.” For example, under “phenylacetaldehyde” we find the following information:
lf we search for “food products” and choose “citrus fruits,” we find:
Three sets of data for citrus fruits are shown. The first, product, Iists orange, lemon, grapefruit (juice), and Mandarin. The other two sets line up as columns: one with profiles, and the other with functional groups. By choosing one item from each column, for example, the screen shows:
Because of overlap, there are about 275 different chemical compounds, from which about 180 are commercially available. These are only the compounds which have been quantified. Many more constituents (465) exist which have been qualified in citrus oils. For instance, in orange oils only 245 compounds have been identified.
A citrus oil can not be compounded on the basis of the known quantitative data, because many of the chemicals are not available.
