Sensory analysis and aroma compounds of buckwheat containing products—a review

Buckwheat is a rich source of starch, proteins, minerals and antioxidants, and as such has become a popular functional ingredient incorporated in diverse recipes/products with particular use in the gluten free market. Due to the absence of gluten, application of buckwheat or buckwheat derived ingredients in this particular food sector has increased significantly over recent years with many buckwheat-based products appearing globally. Sensory analysis is an integral part of the development of products that fulfill consumer expectations. Therefore, investigations on the incorporation of health promoting functional ingredients such as buckwheat into traditional recipes are often complemented by the evaluation of appearance, aroma, taste and texture as well as overall quality through standardized procedures involving trained judges or consumer panels. Aroma is of particular importance in driving consumer preference and its sensory assessment is often complemented with analytical workflows aiming to isolate and determine the concentration of volatile compounds in food and understand the effect of food components on the overall aroma intensity and/or perception of the final product. The present manuscript provides a review of recent advances and knowledge on the sensory characteristics, consumer preference and volatile compound analysis of buckwheat and buckwheat based products.