The Pinaceae species, flavor attributes for new culinary spices

Abstract

The Pinaceae family has traditionally been used as medicine, resorted to as a famine food and for ornamental purposes as Christmas trees. In the last few years numerous restaurants have been using different species of Pinaceae family as a garnish or an aromatic spice, using them in different culinary applications like oils and infusions to flavor dressings and broths. The main compounds in Pinaceae family are monoterpenes, oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, oxygenate sesquiterpenes, diterpenes and hydrocarbons, especially α-β-pinene, limonene, α-terpinene, and even bornyl acetate, responsible for aroma compounds such as citrusy-, woody-, herbal-, or piney aromas. According to the bibliography of the aroma compounds, 33 different attributes were chosen for a sensory analysis with the goal of relating the attributes to the different Pinaceae samples. The statistical method Check-all-that-apply (CATA) was used to perform this research, and a parametric test was made for the first and second experiment, respectively. The attributes acidic, dark and light color, intense flavor, grapefruit flavor and citrus flavor presented a significant difference between samples. According to a correspondence analysis, citrus, intense, and grapefruit flavor attributes are related to Abies grandis, while dark color and even bitterness is related with Pseudotsuga menziesii. Finally, Picea abies is related to light color and sweetness. According to the CATA results an ice cream and a cocktail were developed to carry out the second experiment.Since there was no significant difference between the samples, the p-value being higher than the significance level (p = 0.05), the null hypothesis was accepted (the variances are identical). Despite that, when it came to an average liking, Abies grandis obtained a slightly higher score, followed by Picea abies and Pseudotsuga menziesii. This research thus gives a clearer idea about how to use these 3 types of Pinaceae family according to their sensory characteristics.