Host: Japanese Sciety for Food Science and Technology
Name : The 72nd Annual Meeting of JSFST
Number : 72
Location : [in Japanese]
Date : August 27, 2025 - August 29, 2025
“Purpose”
The taste and aroma of bread are important factors in determining how delicious it is. Water-soluble compounds, such as amino acids and sugars, affect taste, while volatile organic compounds, such as alcohols and aldehydes, affect aroma. Modifying the accumulation of these or their precursors in wheat grain may enhance product value. However, as analyzing VOCs is more difficult than water-soluble compounds, few studies exist, and wheat breeding based on aroma remains underexplored.
This study aimed to develop a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method to enable genetic selection based on these components.
“Methods”
The experiment used four types of commercial bread flour: Haruyutaka, Haruyokoi, Kita-no-Kaori and Minami-no-Kaori. Bread samples were prepared, and the fermented dough, crumb and crust were analyzed for their aroma components. GC-MS analysis using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was performed on the samples, and the resulting chromatogram data were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) and heatmap clustering analysis using the peak area values.
“Results”
According to the bread's aroma profile obtained by GC-MS analysis, a large number of heated aroma components, such as furans, furanones, and pyrazines, in addition to alcohols, aldehydes, esters, and terpenes, were detected in the inner crumb and outer crust of the bread. PCA and heatmaps showed significant separation between Minami-no-Kaori and the other three varieties for all fermentation dough, crumb, and crust samples. These results suggest Minami-no-Kaori has a unique aroma profile. In particular, sesquiterpenes and their derivatives were abundant in Minami-no-Kaori, contributing to cultivar differences.
