Characterization of hay-like off-odor in basil samples after various processing and strategies for reducing the...

Hay-like off-odor present in dried basil products results in low consumer acceptance. To understand the hay-like off-odor formation in processing of basil products, identification of hay-like off-odor in thawed, air-dried and spray-dried basil samples was investigated by means of a trained human panel (n = 10) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry. 3-Methylnonane-2,4-dione (3-MND) was identified in all basil samples to be responsible for the hay-like off-odor. To reduce the hay-like off-odor in dried basil products, the effect of light, oxygen, and temperature on the 3-MND formation was studied during thawing, air drying and spray drying processes. In the thawing process, darkness and nitrogen protection significantly reduced the 3-MND formation. With extending thawing time, no significant increase on the concentration of 3-MND was observed after 60 min in the darkness and under nitrogen. In the designed spray-drying setup, nitrogen protection could further alleviate the 3-MND formation whereas the elevated drying temperature (40-100 °C) boosted the 3-MND formation in air-drying processing. Collectively, these findings indicated that darkness, nitrogen protection and low temperature were considered as critical processing parameters to minimize the generation of hay-like compound 3-MND in dried basil products.