Identification of the key odorants in barley malt (caramalt) using GC/MS techniques and odour dilution analyses.

Application of the aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) on a distillate prepared from ground caramalt kernels followed by identification experiments revealed 3-methylbutanal (malty), 1-octen-3-one (mushroom-like), methional (cooked potato), (E,E)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, waxy), vanillin (vanilla-like), 2- and 3-methylbutanoic acid (sweaty) and 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3-(2H)-furanone (caramel-like) as the most odor-active compounds. Using static headspace/olfactometry, the very volatile odorants dimethyl sulfide (cooked vegetable-like) and 2-methylpropanal (malty) were identified as additional odorants contributing to the overall rye-bread crust-like odour of the caramalt.