Volatiles composition and flavour profile identity of smoke flavourings

The objective of the study was to compare parallel chemical and sensory characteristics of smoke flavourings produced from the same raw material obtained by two processing methods in order to find, which compounds and/or their groups contribute essentially to the development of typical, desirable smoke-cured flavour. The results indicated that composition of volatiles of preparations SF-DP, SF-DL (distillation method) and SF-DR (reconstituted preparation) were qualitatively and quantitatively very similar. Preparation SF-ED (extraction/distillation method) differed strongly from the above by lacking carbonyls. There was a great difference in sensory profiles between smoke flavourings: SF-DP and SF-DL had “smoked-meat” leading note, accompanied by “caramel” and “instant broth-like” ones, whereas SF-ED profile was dominated by “died bonfire” and “medicinal” notes. Among analysed fractions, only F2 (120 °C) demonstrated the profile similar to SF-DP; other fractions collected by higher temperatures had no (or very weak) “smoked meat” attribute. In chemical composition, among all fractions F2 had the highest share of carbonyls (cycloten, 3-methylocyclopenten), phenols (phenol, o-cresol, p-cresol) and guaiacols (guaiacol, 4-methyloguaiacol) and only traces of syringol derivatives.