Perception and Detection of Food Flavours

Anna Perkins

25th September 2014

Flavours, Food, Food Taints, Kathy Ridgway, Off-Flavours,


There are many challenging aspects of food analysis, in particular when looking for unknown analytes.

Characterising flavour or setting suitable specifications to determining the acceptability of a product or ingredient is often not as simple as measuring volatile marker compounds.

When determining flavours and off-flavours (or food taints), the choice of technique can be key to obtaining the required information.  It is quite often the case that the most important compound in terms of flavour, or taint, gives the smallest chromatographic response and may not be picked up with screening methods.

The need for an investigative approach, with a close link to sensory attributes is critical in determining the root cause of an issue.

A recent article I wrote in LCGC Europe’s Food analysis supplement, reviews the chromatographic methods available, covering the latest in sample preparation and instrumentation. You can read a copy of the online article here.

If you would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me on +44 (0)1223 279210, or email enquiries@anatune.co.uk.