Sweet Corn Germ Enzymes Affect Odor Formation

Descriptive sensory analysis of a homogenate of frozen stored unblan‐ched sweet corn indicated that mean overall intensity and most descriptors describing undesirable characteristics were higher than those from blanched corn. To investigate the involvement of corn germ enzymes in off‐odor formation, crude enzyme and purified lipoxygenase (LPO) and peroxidase (POD) extracts were prepared and added to homogenates of blanched corn. Addition of the LPO extract increased “painty” and “stale/oxidized” off‐odor descriptors and lowered “sweet” and “corn” descriptors. Evidence suggested that sweet corn germ peroxidase is not important in off‐odor formation, in which case lipoxygenase may be more appropriate as a blanching indicator.