Flavour Chemistry Facility
Teagasc has a state of the art flavour chemistry facility at the Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark. Here, we can analyse the volatile and non-volatile components of food that directly impact on flavour perception, using a wide range of advanced chromatographic equipment and software.
Background
Flavour is derived from approximately 75% aroma (odour) and 25% taste. The number of taste compounds is relatively limited to ‘sweet’, ‘sour’, ‘salty’, ‘bitter’ and ‘umami’, however other sensations and interactions exist that increase the complexity of taste, such as ‘acid’, ‘hot’, ‘cooling’, ‘astringency’ and ‘mouth-coating’. The number of odour compounds is in the thousands which are made of a wide range of different chemical classes. We have extraction and separation methodologies designed to elucidate compounds that influence flavour either positively or negatively. Flavour chemistry can be used to support sensory analysis or as a standalone discipline. The flavour chemistry facility undertakes research in a wide range of food and beverages directly within Teagasc research programs but also in collaboration with external research groups. It also provides a very active service to industry and has an extensive database of flavour compounds, whose origin and odour properties are known.
Capabilities on Offer
- Flavour
- Identification of odour active
- Olfactory
- Preference
- Product
- Flavour shelf
- Identification of taints/off-flavours.
- Oxidative
- Predictive
- Product
Service Details
- Advanced chromatography mass
- Extraction
- Thermal Desorption, Solid Phase Micro- Extraction, InTube-Extraction, Sorptive Extraction.
- Sniffing
For further information contact: