Volatile Composition, Texture and Sensory Description of Gaz (Traditional Persian Confection)

Abstract

Gaz is a typical Iranian confectionary product prepared from almond and/or pistachio, gaz-angebin, sugar, glucose syrup, rosewater and egg white. The physicochemical properties of seven gaz samples were studied. Volatile compounds were extracted by solid-phase microextraction and investigated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Texture and organoleptic characteristics were determined by a texture analyzer and a trained panel, respectively. Twentyeight compounds were detected, including ketones, alcohols, furans, linear hydrocarbons, terpenes, aldehydes, aromatics hydrocarbons and pyrroles. Carvone was the predominant volatile compound. The type and amount of nuts determined the intensity of key flavor attributes; however, these two factors only influenced the hardness of samples but no other texture attributes. The sensory texture profile of gaz could be successfully predicted by easy-toconduct instrumental tests, mainly texture profile analysis and cutting test. However, further research is needed in order to clearly prove whether the instrumental evaluation of the volatile compounds could be used to replace sensory analysis.