18C-30 |
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L. L. COLBY and G. A. Reineccius. Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition, Univ. of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55108
Gas
chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) is a broadly used technique in flavor
research that involves the collection of both human and instrumental data.
Several specific techniques have been developed including OSME, CharmAnalysisTM,
AEDA, SNIF and NIF. Of these
methods, OSME has the timesaving benefit of not requiring repeated sample
dilutions by recording both time-intensity and character of chromatographic
peaks. However, the actual
mechanics and methods of using OSME vary from recording simple numbers for peak
intensities to physical instrument component add-ons and expensive commercial
software packages. Our
objective was to develop an inexpensive software application to be used in gas
chromatography-olfactometry using the OSME technique. Several
attempts were made to capture and display real-time data using a variety of
software. LabViewTM was
selected to develop a specialized “odor intensity virtual instrument”
program. Voice recording
capabilities were added, but later removed to minimize strain on computer
resources. Aroma descriptions were
recorded using separate digital recorders.
The program was tested for OSME usage during GC-O analysis of aroma
compound mixtures and of Likens-Nickerson Cheddar cheese extracts. The
program features an on-screen slider that is moved by the user's mouse to
capture time intensity data and display it in real-time on the user's screen.
Program running time is practically unlimited for OSME applications
(limited only by hard drive capacity) and has a data-sampling rate of up to
30/second. Data output is easily
opened as a text file or spreadsheet and can be overlaid with instrumental
chromatograms. We used the
program to collect GC-O data on known aroma compound mixtures as well as Cheddar
cheese extracts. Development of this application demonstrates an inexpensive technique that can be used in many labs to conduct GC-O research. The program we developed may also function as an inexpensive, shareware, stand-alone application.
Session 18C, Food Chemistry: Food composition, analysis and volatiles
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |