HS-SPME/GC-MS Determination of Italian Rice Flavour

Quality control of agricultural crops has traditionally been based on human sensory perception; in this context rice is generally considered as a staple food because of its flavour and texture. Food flavour, due to a large number of volatile compounds, influences consumers widely and, when food safety and nutritional contribution are guaranteed, sensory parameters become the discriminating factor in defining the food quality. For these reasons, flavour is today considered an important issue in order to add value to a product and differentiate it on the market. This study was focused on the identification of some compounds which could be used as markers of the product quality and be able to characterize the aromatic profile of different rice cultivar. Rice flavour was analyzed by using headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in order to compare the flavour profile richness of rice samples from three different national cultivar (Carnaroli, Arborio e Roma). Seventeen volatile compounds were identified and confirmed with standards mass spectra acquisition. The reproducibility of the identified compounds was studied by means of RSD showing very good results ranged from 1.54 to 15.84.