Statistical analysis correlates flavor compounds with citric fruit flavor notes
A group of food scientists at the University of Florida Department of Food Science and Nutrition led by Dr. Yu Wang reported that certain flavor compounds/non-volatiles are well correlated with citric flavor notes commonly encountered in mandarin and oranges.
They used trained sensory panelists to evaluate flavor notes, and instruments like GS-MS to identify flavor compounds found in citric fruits like mandarin and oranges, and then conducted an statistical analysis of citric flavor notes with a type of multivariate analysis called Principal Component Analysis to correlate the flavor compounds identified with GS-MS and other instruments with flavor attributes.
They found
"Sugars were highly correlated with the sweet attribute while flavonoids and limonoids were highly correlated with the bitter attribute. Organic acids showed a strong correlation with the sour attribute and a contribution to the citrusy attribute. Terpenes were highly associated with the terpene-like attribute, while octanal, decanal, ethyl hexanoate, and ethyl octanoate were found to be highly correlated with the citrusy attribute. The correlations between compounds of linalool, citronellol, and 1-octanol and the fruity/floral attribute were also observed."
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