Headspace Analysis of Foods and Flavors

Headspace gas analysis is an analytical technique that has been successfully applied to food flavors for over 20 years but has experienced a resurgence of interest and innovation in recent years. In its truest form, headspace analysis represents the direct collection and analysis of the mixture of vapors in the space immediately above a food or beverage. The technique offers several advantages for workers interested in how a product smells and ultimately tastes. It offers the advantages of speed, simplicity, and, more importantly, represents the aroma profile a consumer is likely to experience just before consuming the product. Since only volatile components are collected, the sample is totally free of nonvolatile residues which commonly plague comparison liquid-liquid extracts of the same product.