THE EFFECT OF EATING ON THE RATE OF AROMA RELEASE FROM MINT-FLAVORED SWEETS

The release of aromas during the eating of mint-flavoured sweets was i nvestigated by collecting part of the expired airflow (nose-space) fro m human subjects at 10-s intervals over a 5-min period and determining the amounts of 11 key volatiles by GC-MS. No attempt was made to stan dardize eating patterns. Variations in aroma release between people we re investigated in two ways; by measuring the total amount of volatile s released (sum of the 11 peak areas) and by analysing the release of three thr-ee volatiles, limonene, menthone and menthol, during the che wing and sucking of mints. In the chewing experiments, the total volat ile concentration in the nose-space was greatest between 20 and 50 s, which corresponds to the point at which the mints were swallowed. Howe ver, some volatiles did persist after swallowing. In the sucking exper iments, the total volatile trace persisted for up to 300 s for some su bjects as the mint was still present. For the three individual compoun ds, the amounts released were expressed as a percentage of the total p eak area and this produced very similar traces from the four people in the experiment. There were distinct differences in the time-release c urves for the three compounds which may be related to the polarities a nd boiling points of the volatiles in the mint/saliva system that exis ts in the mouth. Release of the three compounds when mints were sucked resulted in a slower release of all three volatiles compared to chewi ng. The variation in aroma release was estimated by analysing the amou nt of limonene present in the three replicates of breath samples of fo ur people at each point of the! time course. Variation in the mean amo unts of limonene released (measured as the percentage coefficient of v ariation %CV) was relatively high (%CV ranged from 5.2% to 62.4%), but this was probably a consequence of short sampling times and the diffe rent routes of airflow in humans during eating.