title: Contribution of monophenols to beer flavour based on flavour thresholds, interactions and recombination experiments.
abstract: Although monophenols are known to contribute to the flavour of many foods and beverages, little is known about their influence on beer flavour. Therefore, the contribution of 11 monophenols to the overall beer flavour was studied by determining their flavour thresholds. Large differences in sensitivity were observed between individual tasters. Next, flavour interactions between monophenols were examined in nine binary mixtures, which showed that strong interactions like synergy and antagonism occur. Based on these results, the flavour contribution of the monophenols was estimated by calculating flavour units. These proved to be rather low for most of the studied monophenols. However, recombination experiments demonstrated that monophenols enriched beer flavour with spicy, smokey and vanilla flavour aspects. This showed how monophenols might influence overall flavour, even at sub-threshold concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Malting and Brewing Science, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 22, Box 2463, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium. Electronic address: femke.sterckx@biw.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Femke L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Sterckx
authors.affiliation: Centre for Malting and Brewing Science, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 22, Box 2463, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Missiaen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Malting and Brewing Science, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 22, Box 2463, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium.
authors.forename: Daan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saison
authors.affiliation: Centre for Malting and Brewing Science, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 22, Box 2463, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium.
authors.forename: Freddy R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Delvaux
keywords: Beer; Flavour; Interaction; Phenols; Recombination; Sensory analysis; Synergy; Threshold