Effect of xanthan gum on the release of strawberry flavor in formulated soy beverage

- The release of flavor compounds was restrained in SPI and/or xanthan gum solution.
- Xanthan gum evidently changed the retention of (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, limonene and diacetyl.
- Other esters promoted flavor ester release in SPI-xanthan gum mixture solution.
- Less-volatiles accelerated ester release to some extent in different matrices.

The effects of xanthan gum on the release of strawberry flavor compounds in formulated soy protein isolate (SPI) beverage were investigated by headspace gas chromatography (GC). Seven strawberry flavor compounds (limonene, ethyl hexanoate, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl butanoate, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol and diacetyl) could be detected by GC and hence analyzed the gas-matrix partition coefficients (K). The release of flavor compounds was restrained in SPI and/or xanthan gum solution. The retention of (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, limonene and diacetyl significantly changed (p < 0.05) with increasing xanthan gum concentrations. Presence of any other esters led to suppression of the release of ester compounds in water and SPI solution. The less-volatiles (γ-decalactone, methyl cinnamate, hexanoic acid, 2-methyl butyric acid and furaneol) accelerated the release of ester compounds to some extent in different matrices. The above results demonstrated that presence of SPI and xanthan gum could bring about an imbalance in the strawberry flavor.