Impact of Malt Extract Addition on Odorants in Wheat Bread Crust and Crumb

Application of gas chromatography-olfactometry and aroma extract dilution analysis to the volatiles isolated from (1) crust and (2) crumb of a wheat bread made with the addition of a dark liquid malt extract (LME) to the dough and (3) crust and (4) crumb of a reference bread made without addition resulted in the identification of 23 major odorants. Their quantitation followed by the calculation of odor activity values (OAV = ratio of concentration to odor threshold value) suggested that LME addition influenced the aroma of the bread predominantly by increasing seasoning-like smelling sotolon in crust and crumb, and caramel-like smelling compounds maltol and 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethylfuran-3(2H)-one (HDMF) in the crumb. The increase in sotolon and maltol was explainable by direct transfer from the LME to the bread, whereas HDMF must have been formed from LME-derived precursors. This difference needs to be considered in the targeted optimization of LMEs for bread making.