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J Mass Spectrom. 2014 Sep;49(9):850-9. doi: 10.1002/jms.3421.

Proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry for the study of the production of volatile compounds by bakery yeast starters.

Journal of mass spectrometry : JMS

Salim Makhoul, Andrea Romano, Luca Cappellin, Giuseppe Spano, Vittorio Capozzi, Elisabetta Benozzi, Tilmann D Märk, Eugenio Aprea, Flavia Gasperi, Hanna El-Nakat, Jean Guzzo, Franco Biasioli

Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Quality and Nutrition, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM), via E. Mach 1, 38010, San Michele all'Adige, TN, Italy; Department of Chemistry, University of Balamand, P. O. Box?100, Tripoli, Lebanon; MR PAM-équipe VALMIS, IUVV, 1 rue Claude Ladrey, 21078, Dijon Cedex, France.

PMID: 25230182 DOI: 10.1002/jms.3421

Abstract

The aromatic impact of bakery yeast starters is currently receiving considerable attention. The flavor characteristics of the dough and the finished products are usually evaluated by gas chromatography and sensory analysis. The limit of both techniques resides in their low-throughput character. In the present work, proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS), coupled to a time-of-flight mass analyzer, was employed, for the first time, to measure the volatile fractions of dough and bread, and to monitor Saccharomyces cerevisiae volatile production in a fermented food matrix. Leavening was performed on small-scale (1 g) dough samples inoculated with different commercial yeast strains. The leavened doughs were then baked, and volatile profiles were determined during leavening and after baking. The experimental setup included a multifunctional autosampler, which permitted the follow-up of the leavening process on a small scale with a typical throughput of 500 distinct data points in 16 h. The system allowed to pinpoint differences between starter yeast strains in terms of volatile emission kinetics, with repercussions on the final product (i.e. the corresponding micro-loaves). This work demonstrates the applicability of PTR-MS for the study of volatile organic compound production during bread-making, for the automated and online real-time monitoring of the leavening process, and for the characterization and selection of bakery yeast starters in view of their production of volatile compounds.

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: PTR-MS; VOCs; bakery; leavening; yeast

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