Volatile garlic odor components: gas phases and adsorbed exhaled air analysed by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Combined headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HSGC-MS) was used in the analysis of garlic volatile compounds. Twenty major components were identified in the gas phases enriched by fresh, sliced garlic cloves ( ALLIUM SATIVUM L, Allioceae, Liliidae). Suspended dry garlic powder and crushed garlic, incubated in vegetable oil, revealed a different pattern since mainly the amounts of di- and trisulfides were decreased. The considerable compositional differences found in the analyses for the gas phase of garlic cloves, kept in oil, are likely associated with the poor stability of allicin in a lipophilic environment; a marked increase in the amounts of 2-propene-1-thiol, acetic acid, and ethanol was observed in the gas phase, whereas trisulfides were present in traces only. The occurrence of 2-propene-1-thiol and diallyl disulfide, the two principal sulfur components in exhaled air, also may indicate a rapid degradation of most garlic volatile components probably caused by the enzymatically active human salivary or digestive system.