Potent aroma compounds in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese studied using a dynamic headspace (purge‐trap) method

The aroma‐active compounds potentially important to Parmigiano Reggiano cheese were studied using a dynamic headspace–gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O–DH) technique. The aroma contribution was evaluated by both Osme and AEDA technique. The Osme values were based on a 10 point scale, while the flavour dilution values of AEDA were obtained by sequentially reducing the sample size at a fixed purge gas volume. In general, aroma compounds with high Osme values also had high FD values. Among the aroma compounds identified in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, acetaldehyde, 2‐methylpropanal, 2‐methylbutanal, 3‐methylbutanal, ethyl butanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, methional, dimethyl trisulphide, diacetyl, and 2,6‐dimethylpyrazine were considered the most odour‐potent.