Toward Unified Flavor Quantitation in Cocoa-Based Products

Because food flavor is perceived through a combination of odor and taste, an analytical method that covers both dimensions would be very beneficial for mapping the consistent product quality over the entirety of a manufacturing process. Such a method, so-called unified flavor quantitation, has been successfully applied to several different food products in recent years. The simultaneous detection of aroma and taste compounds by means of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) enables the analysis and quantification of an enormously large number of compounds in a single run. To evaluate the limits of this method, chocolate, a high-fat, complex matrix, was selected. In 38 distinct commercial chocolate samples, 20 flavor-active acids, aldehydes, and sugars were analyzed after a simple, rapid extraction step followed by derivatization with 3-nitrophenylhydrazine using a single UHPLC-MS/MS method. The results obtained highlight the great potential of the unified flavor quantitation approach and demonstrate the possibility of high-throughput quantitation of key aroma- and taste-active molecules in a single assay.

Automated summary

The unified flavor quantitation method, using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, allows for the simultaneous analysis and quantification of a large number of flavor compounds in a single run. The application to chocolate highlights the potential and feasibility of high-throughput quantitation of key aroma- and taste-active molecules.