<p class="MDPI13authornamesori1" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 14.0pt;">Perceived Intensity and Pleasantness of Coffee Aroma: Role of Odor-Active Molecules, Sex and Olfactory Function

Coffee is the most popular non-alcoholic beverage in the world, and its consumption has increased over the last decades. Recent studies have identified the social and environmental factors that determine whether an individual is a coffee drinker or non-drinker. Knowing the key aroma compounds of coffee and identifying inter-individual differences in the number and type of odor-active compounds could be important to understand what guides consumers towards the choice of drinking or not drinking coffee. In this study, using the coupled Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry technique, the components of the headspace of roasted coffee beans were separated and evaluated by volunteers. Each participant had to identify and provide a personal evaluation of the pleasantness and intensity perceived for each odor molecule. The results show that individuals with normosmia perceive single molecules with a greater intensity than those with hyposmia, and that females report perceiving the odor of single molecules with a higher intensity than males. The reported pleasantness for the coffee aroma is determined by the hedonic valence attributed to each molecule in terms of pleasantness/unpleasantness. These results could be of great interest to the coffee industry, providing useful information for the development of new blends.