Volatile Flavor Components of Rice Cakes

Volatiles were obtained from commercially prepared and laboratory-prepared rice cakes using high-flow dynamic headspace isolation with Tenax trapping. Analysis was carried out by capillary GC/MS. More than 60 compounds were identified. Major volatiles included 1-hydroxy-2-propanone, furfuryl alcohol, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, 2-methylpyrazine, pyrazine, hexanal, furfural, pentanol, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (acetoin), and ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine. Although not ideally applicable to a dry product, concentration/threshold ratios indicated that the compounds with a high probability of contributing to the aroma and flavor included 3-methylbutanal, dimethyl trisulfide, 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine, 4-vinylguaiacol, hexanal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, 2-methylbutanal, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, 1-octen-3-ol, and 1-octen-3-one. Keywords: Rice cakes; volatiles; flavor; aroma; identification; concentrations; concentration/threshold ratios