Flavour and off-flavour compounds of black and white pepper (Piper nigrum L.): III. Desirable and undesirable odorants of white pepper

Quantification of 19 odorants and calculation of their odour activity values were together the basis for an aroma model which reflected the odour profile of a white pepper sample having a faecal off-flavour. Omission tests indicated limonene, linalool, α-pinene, 1,8-cineole, piperonal, butyric acid, 3-methylbutyric acid, methylpropanal, and 2- and 3-methylbutanal as key odorants of white pepper. The faecal off-flavour was caused by skatole and was enhanced by the presence of p-cresol. In six samples of white pepper the intensity of the faecal off-flavour paralleled the concentration of both skatole and p-cresol. In the sample with the strongest off-flavour the concentrations amounted to 2.6 mg/kg (skatole) and 12.4 mg/kg (p-cresol). © Springer-Verlag 1999.