14B-16

M. B. LUBRAN, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, M. M. Giusti, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, UM, and S. A. Rankin, Animal and Avian Sciences, UM.

Annatto is a natural food colorant that is extracted from the pericarp of the fruit of the Bixa orellana plant. Because of avoidance of synthetic colorants for health reasons and the instability of alternative pigments, annatto production and usage as a colorant has steadily increased over the past few years. Annatto is used in Latin American cuisine to add a deep reddish-brown color as well as distinctive flavor notes to fish, meat, and rice dishes. In the United States, annatto extracts are primarily used to impart orange/yellow hues to dairy foods such as cheese and ice cream. Few studies have investigated the potential for annatto extracts to contribute to the aroma character of foods. The objective of this study was to identify the volatile compounds present in several commercially available annatto bean extracts. Numerous annatto extracts were obtained directly from manufacturers, including oil and water soluble types. Volatile extracts were recovered using dynamic headspace-solvent desorption sampling. Volatiles were analyzed using GC-MS. Compounds were identified by comparison to a mass spectral database, published Kovats indexes, and to retention times of known standards. Resultant chromatograms were complex; over 100 volatile compounds were tentatively identified and 51 positively identified. Of particular note are the compounds: bornyl acetate, a -caryophyllene, copaene, a -cubebene, (+) cyclosativene, g -elemene, geranylphenyl acetate, 1-heptanethiol, b -humulene, isoledene, b -pinene, 3-methyl-pyridine, 4-methyl-pyridine, selina-6-en-4-ol, d -selinene, (-) spathulenol, and (+) ylangene. This preliminary study suggests that commercially available annatto bean extracts contain numerous, potent odorants. Although typically used at extremely dilute concentrations in most food applications, our results suggest that annatto bean extracts may contribute aroma character to some foods.