Abstract
The aroma of pea protein (Pisum sativum L.) was decrypted for knowledge-based flavor optimization of new food products containing pea protein. Sensomics helped to determine several volatiles via ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and 3-nitrophenylhydrazine derivatization. Among the investigated volatiles, representatives of aldehydes, ketones, and acids were reported in literature as especially important in pea and pea-related matrices. After validation of the method and quantitation of the corresponding analytes, sensory reconstitution as well as omission studies of a selected pea protein were performed and revealed nine odor-active compounds as key food odorants (3-methylbutanal, hexanal, acetaldehyde, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, (E)-2-octenal, benzaldehyde, heptanal, 2-methylbutanal, and nonanoic acid). Interestingly, eight out of nine compounds belonged to the chemical class of aldehydes. Statistical heatmap and cluster analysis of all odor activity values of different pea proteins confirmed the obtained sensory results and generalize these nine key food odorants in other pea proteins. The knowledge of key components gained shows potential for simplifying industrial flavor optimization of pea protein-based food.
Highlights
In the last several years, an increasing market for alternative foods based on plant ingredients such as pea, soy, oat, or hemp can be observed
The following compounds were commercially obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (Steinheim, Germany): 3-nitrophenylhydrazine hydrochloride (3-NPH), pyridine, N-(3-(dimethylamino)-propyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), formic acid, triacetin, 3methylbutanal, hexanal, (E)-2-octenal, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, (E,E)2,4-decadienal, (E)-2-undecenal, (E)-2-dodecenal, 2-undecanone, heptanoic acid, phenylacetaldehyde, 4-ethylbenzaldehyde, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, γ-octalactone, 2,3-dimethylpyrazine, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, 2ethylpyrazine, 2-ethyl-5(6)-methylpyrazine, 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, 3-isopropyl2-methoxypyrazine, hexanal-d12, hexanoic acid-d3, and phenylacetic acid-13C2
[9,10,11,17,18,19,32], reported candidates (Tables S1 and S2) and further odor-active sensometabolites [16] were quantitated by means of UHPLC-MS/MS based on stable isotope dilution analysis (SIDA) with rapid and simple sample workup
Summary
In the last several years, an increasing market for alternative foods based on plant ingredients such as pea, soy, oat, or hemp can be observed. In the first quarter of 2020, the production of vegetarian or vegan meat substitutes increased by 37% compared to the previous quarter [2] Even though these plant-based alternatives are more expensive compared to their original analogs, this does not prevent consumers from buying. This can be explained by an increasing tendency towards sustainability and animal welfare, e.g., as highlighted by a 2020 consumer barometer, saying that 69% of consumers are more willing to pay a higher price for food with sustainable origin [3]. As this current trend apparently results in good business and plant-based proteins while simultaneously showing a better footprint [4], it is linked to start-ups and to well-established companies concentrating their attention and their R&D on this highly topical issue
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