- Spring - 1997 "Update" Newsletter Article -

Flavor researcher seeks elements behind aroma
From CATI Publication #970401
Copyright © 1997. All rights reserved.
CFSNR - Flavor researcher seeks elements behind aroma


image A specialist in flavor research at California State University, Fresno hopes his work during the coming years will help California's food processing industry develop more interesting and tasty products.

John Budin is a lecturer for the Department of Enology, Food Science and Nutrition. And while he appreciates the finer arts of sniffing and tasting to determine aroma and flavor, Budin seems more comfortable talking about gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, for it's the chemical elements identified by these processes that are of most interest to him.

"The question is, what is it that makes this food product smell the way it does?" Budin asks. The answer can be quite complicated. One food product, such as butter, may contain dozens of compounds chemically joined to produce a certain pleasant aroma and taste. But which compounds are essential for this?

The processes of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry help the researcher find out by fragmenting tiny food samples into their most basic chemical elements. Once the elements are identified and separated, the researcher can begin to determine which contribute to the aroma and taste and whether they can be reproduced synthetically for commercial use.

In the cases of butter and vanilla, for example, the flavor research industry has been fairly successful. That's why we have products like butter-flavored popcorn - without the butter on it, and imitation vanilla flavoring, which costs much less than real "Bourbon" vanilla extract obtained almost exclusively from the island of Madagascar.

But there are areas of flavor research still untapped, and Budin has some in mind. To aid in his work on the Fresno State campus he is searching for a gas chromatography unit for use by affiliates of the Center for Food Science and Nutrition Research (CFSNR), which operates under the California Agricultural Technology Institute (CATI).

Budin arrived here last year from an internationally-known flavor research program at the University of Minnesota. As part of his duties here, he is serving as advisor to a group of students who have entered a national competition sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists. The group received a $7,000 grant award from the California Egg Commission to develop a Tahitian vanilla ice cream.

The flavor produced by Tahitian vanilla beans is distinct from that of Madagascar beans, Budin noted. A different climate, as well as different curing and aging processes used in Tahiti, give the Tahitian vanilla a sweeter, more flowery aroma and taste. "This is vanilla, but it's very different," he said.

If the ice cream formula proves a winner, it could end up being marketed through Fresno State, he added.

For more information about flavor research, Budin may be reached at his department office at (559) 278-2164. For more information on the CFSNR, visit the center's Internet web site at (http://cati.csufresno.edu/cfsnr).

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CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE - CATI
College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
California State University, Fresno