Abstract:

Electronic nose (E-nose) was employed to analyze volatile flavor compounds in peanut butter from two different brands through principal component analysis (PCA) method. Headspace solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) technique was used to extract volatile flavor compounds from peanut butter A and B. Volatile flavor components in peanut butter were isolated and identified by capillary gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Electronic nose could successfully identify peanut butter A and B. Totally 62 and 42 volatile flavor components were identified and their contents were 94.68% and 90.98% among total determined components from peanut butter A and B, respectively. Pyrazines exhibited the highest content in both kinds of peanut butter. The contents of 19 and 13 pyrazines were 51.86% and 44.40% in total volatile components from both kinds of peanut butter, respectively. Meanwhile, 39 volatile flavor components such as pyrazines, aldehydes, furan, pyrrole, ketones and alcohols were identified to be same in both peanut butter A and B, although their contents are different. This investigation confirmed that major flavor compounds in peanut butter were pyrazines. E-nose combined with GC-MS and SPME technology provided an excellent identification method for aromatic components from different brands of peanut butter.

Key words: peanut butter, electronic nose, headspace solid-phase microextraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, volatile flavor compounds