Characterization of key aroma-active compounds in raw and roasted white mustard seeds (Sinapis alba L.)

Thermal processing of food leads to the formation of different desired quality aspects like aroma, taste, and color. Changes in the overall aroma are based, for example, on the degradation of odorless precursors or on interactions of food ingredients forming numerous odorants. To get a deeper insight into these changes induced by roasting of white mustard seeds on a molecular basis, the Molecular Sensory Science Concept including comparative aroma extract dilution analysis (cAEDA), identification experiments, quantitation via stable isotope dilution analysis (SIDA), and calculation of odor activity values (OAVs, ratio of concentration to odor threshold) was used. All odorants increased significantly during roasting, e.g., by a factor of 240 for 2-furanmethanethiol (from 2.84 to 690 μg/kg), of 190 for 3-methylbutanal (from 42.2 to 8030 μg/kg), and of 150 for 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (from 0.16 to 24.4 μg/kg).