Details of Research Outputs

Vegetables serve an important role in human nutrition. The flavor quality of vegetables determines consumers’ preferences, consumer acceptance, and repeat purchases. Aroma compounds (volatile compounds) and flavor compounds (non-volatile) both are essential to create the sensory perception of vegetables. The aroma and flavor compounds will be influenced by the species of vegetables, the biosynthesis pathways in vegetables, and the combined response of olfaction and taste perceptions. Therefore, this chapter presents a description of the factors that influence the flavor profile of vegetables, including the classification of vegetables, primary and secondary metabolites of vegetables, and primary and secondary flavor compounds of vegetables, the key flavor compounds, and their biosynthesis pathways in vegetables. In addition, the identification and quantification methods of both volatile and non-volatile compounds in vegetables using both instrumental analysis and sensory evaluation methods will be discussed.