The effect of sugars on the retention of ethyl butyrate by gellan gels

• Retention of ethyl butyrate by gellan gels in the presence of sugars.
• The type and concentration of sugars affected aroma release.
• Experimental conditions (sample mass) were critical.
• All matrices had a tendency to retain ethyl butyrate.

The effect of sucrose, glucose and fructose on the retention of ethyl butyrate by low acyl gellan gels was investigated by static headspace gas chromatography. The air/biopolymer partition coefficient (K) and percentage of retention (R%) were determined. When 5 g of sample were left to equilibrate at 37 °C for 24 h, the obtained results were explained in terms of gel rigidity, as increased rigidity resulted in increased aroma retention. Glucose showed the greatest aroma release among the sugars and resulted in either the same or increased aroma release with increasing concentration. Increasing concentrations of fructose and sucrose did not alter aroma release significantly. For 15 g of sample mass, sucrose exhibited the lowest partition coefficient values among the sugars. The two higher sucrose concentrations resulted in decreased coefficient values. For fructose and glucose, aroma retention decreased with increasing concentration. The percentage of retention values were positive for all sugars, throughout their concentration range and for both experiments.