Application of a new sampling device for determination of volatile compounds released during heating olive and sunflower oil: sensory evaluation of those identified compounds

This work has applied a system for characterizing volatile compounds generated during the heating of oils, based on solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The system has been applied to sunflower and extra virgin olive oil at kitchen conditions, heating from room temperature to 80A degrees above their smoking point. The work identified twenty-three compounds, mainly saturated and unsaturated aldehydes, and alkanes; carboxylic acids were present in lower concentrations. During heating, the stability of each oil was found to be different. The alkanals were produced in greater quantities in the sunflower oil. Alkanes were found in higher concentration in the olive oil and showed no significant variation in either of the oils as the temperature changed. And a relationship between the quantity of aldehydes released at the highest temperature and the percentage of fatty acids from which those aldehydes originated in each oil was found. The importance of the unsaturated aldehydes in the deep-fried odor was also exposed in this study.