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Worldwide market screening of saffron volatile composition
Author(s) -
Maggi Luana,
Carmona Manuel,
del Campo C Priscila,
Kanakis Charalabos D,
Anastasaki Eirini,
Tarantilis Petros A,
Polissiou Moschos G,
Alonso Gonzalo L
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.3679
Subject(s) - aroma , crocus sativus , safranal , chemistry , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , composition (language) , extraction (chemistry) , chromatography , mass spectrometry , food science , traditional medicine , medicine , linguistics , philosophy
BACKGROUND: Saffron ( Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most valuable spices and nowadays its main use is as a foodstuff. Numerous papers have been published on saffron aroma and its volatile content, but nothing has been written about the aroma quality of samples available on the market to consumers. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare 418 commercial samples of saffron belonging to different ISO categories. Ultrasound‐assisted extraction (USAE) with an organic solvent and dynamic headspace desorption (DHD) followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were used to screen for saffron volatile composition. RESULTS: For both methods the saffron aromatic profile was characterised by spicy aromatic notes due to safranal, the most abundant volatile component, by a floral contribution attributable to isophorone and 2,2,6‐trimethyl‐1,4‐cyclohexanedione, together with citrus and spicy notes from 4‐ketoisophorone and 2‐hydroxy‐4,4,6‐trimethyl‐2,5‐cyclohexadien‐1‐one respectively. CONCLUSION: USAE allowed the detection of a greater number of compounds, whereas DHD was faster and a smaller amount of saffron was required. Compared with the USAE method, the DHD method defined the samples as having a spicier and more floral aromatic contribution, thus corroborating that the extraction method considerably changes the aromatic fingerprint of saffron samples. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry