How ingredients influence furan and aroma generation in sponge cake

A wide range of compounds can be formed during thermal processing of food, some of which are relevant for aroma (e.g., furfural), while others are of great health concern (e.g., furan). This paper presents the study of formulation as affecting the simultaneous generation of furan and furfural, along with other aroma quality markers, in sponge cake by means of headspace trap/GC-MS. Ingredients were screened according to their category (fat, salt, sugar, egg-based). Glucose-containing formulation resulted in the highest content of furan and furfural (12.5 ± 0.5 ng g^-1 and 9.2 ± 0.2 μg g^-1, dry basis, respectively), while their lowest amount was found in the egg-white recipe (3.1 ± 0.1 ng g^-1 for furan and 0.287 ± 0.078 µg g^-1 for furfural, dry basis). The latter also related negatively to all studied compounds. This work will be useful for developing novel strategies to deliver safe foods with appealing organoleptic attributes.