Identification of odorants in wood of Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin by aroma extract dilution analysis and two-dimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry/olfactometry

Abstract

General emissions of volatile organic compounds from wood are well investigated, but only limited information is available on the odor-active substances contained therein. To close this gap, we aimed at specifically elucidating the odorous constituents of wood from incense cedar [Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin]; this material is commonly used for the production of a range of products such as pencils and interior accessories. Targeted odorant analysis requires specialized techniques combining modern odorant analytical tools with human-sensory evaluation. Following this concept, the odor profile of the wood sample was first evaluated by human-sensory analyses. Then, the most potent wood odorants were characterized by means of gas chromatography-olfactometry and ranked according to their odor potency via aroma extract dilution analysis. With use of this approach, more than 60 odorous substances were detected, and the 22 most potent odorants were successfully identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry and two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry. Among the main odorants found were a series of terpenes, several degradation products of fatty acids, and a number of odorants with a phenolic core moiety. Five odorants are reported here for the first time as wood odorants, such as γ-octalactone and 3-phenylpropanoic acid; thymoquinone was demonstrated for the first time to have a pencil-like odor quality.

Resolving the smell of wood - identification of odour-active compounds in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)

“…Thymoquinone as a naturally occurring, pencil-like smelling substance is a new find in pine wood. However, in our recent study 15 on incense cedar wood, thymoquinone was found to have an even higher odour potency, possibly being one of its key odorants. In pine wood the attribute pencil-like was rated only with an intensity of 1.0 during sensory evaluation whereas in incense cedar wood it was the most dominant odour impression 15 .…”

“…However, in our recent study 15 on incense cedar wood, thymoquinone was found to have an even higher odour potency, possibly being one of its key odorants. In pine wood the attribute pencil-like was rated only with an intensity of 1.0 during sensory evaluation whereas in incense cedar wood it was the most dominant odour impression 15 . This reveals that even in those samples where thymoquinone was detected by olfactometry, it did not impact the overall smell of the pine samples as other compounds were present with much more sensory impact, thereby obviously covering the smell impression of this compound.…”

“…These studies predominantly focused on toasted woods, whereas natural wood odour has been largely overlooked in scientific studies. To remedy this, we recently identified the main odorants in incense cedar wood which is commonly used for everyday products such as pencils 15 . The potent contributors to this type of wood smell were previously unknown and were identified in our study using sophisticated odorant analysis techniques.…”

Characterization of odorants in adhesives

“…This method has initially been developed for analysis of food aroma, but diverse studies show that the methodology is also applicable for odor analysis in the non-food sector [90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98].…”

Bleistift, Sägespäne und Harz

“…Spinnennetzdiagramm. 3,4) Nachrichten aus der Chemie| 66 | April 2018 | www.gdch.de/nachrichten weiterer Detektor unerlässlich: die menschliche Nase. Daher werden die Peaks nach der Trennung auf der Säule neben dem FID oder MS noch einem Sniffing-Port zugeführt, an dem ein geschulter Proband Geruchsqualität und -intensität der Substanzen bewertet.…”