Influence of gelatin, starch, pectin and artificial saliva on the release of 11 flavour compounds from model gel systems

The release of 11 flavour compounds from gelatin, starch and pectin gels was investigated. The gels were characterised by Young’s modulus of elasticity (E). Static headspace analysis was used to determine the partition coefficients of compounds. Model mouth/proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry analysis produced flavour release profiles. The most rigid gel, gelatin gel, had the lowest partition coefficients for six compounds and the lowest maximum concentrations released for all compounds. While the rigidity of the starch and pectin gels were not significantly different from each other, there was greater release of hydrophilic compounds from pectin gels than starch gels, while the opposite was observed for hydrophobic compounds. These results indicated matrix–volatile interactions occurring in the starch and pectin gels. The gelatin gel showed large increases in flavour release in the presence of saliva, while the starch and pectin gels showed a reduction in flavour release.