Characterization of the Key Aroma Compounds in Beef and Pork Vegetable Gravies a la Chef by Application of the Aroma Extract Dilution Analysis

By application of the aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) on an aroma distillate isolated from a freshly prepared, stewed beef/vegetable gravy, 52 odor-active compounds were detected in the flavor dilution (FD) factor range of 4-4096. On the basis of high FD factors in combination with the results of the identification experiments, 3-(methylthio)propanal (cooked potato), 3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol (gravy-like), (EE)-2,4-decadienal (deep-fried, fatty), 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone (lovage-like), vanillin (vanilla-like), (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal (deep-fried), and (E)-2-undecenal (metallic) are suggested as key contributors to the aroma of the gravy. To get an insight into the role of the vegetables as sources of gravy odorants, a beef gravy was prepared without vegetables. The AEDA results revealed that, in particular, onions and leek are important sources of gravy aroma compounds, adding particularly the very potent, gravy-like smelling 3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-1-ol to the overall aroma profile. Further compounds that were clearly derived from the vegetables and, thus, are important modifiers of the overall aroma were 4-vinyl-2-methoxyphenol, (E)-beta-damascenone, P-ionone, 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, and 2-(sec-butyl)-3-methoxypyrazine. Interestingly, none of the key odorants detected in the gravy can be assumed to be formed from a reaction between beef and vegetable constituents. A comparison of the odorants in the beef/vegetable gravy with a gravy prepared according to the same procedure, but substituting beef by pork meat, indicated that most of the aroma compounds were identical-although different in FD factors-but the tallowy smelling 12-methyltridecanal was detected as key odorant only in the beef/vegetable gravy.