Screening of volatile compounds composition of white truffle during storage by GCxGC-(FID/MS) and gas sensor array analyses

Abstract White truffle ( Tuber magnatum Pico ) is one of the most valuable delicacies of the Italian and French cuisine. Previous works on truffle aroma report sulfur compounds and short-chain aldehydes as typical constituents which abundance is influenced by storage conditions. In this study, the head space of truffle aroma has been evaluated by two different (innovative) approaches: HS-SPME extraction and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC), exploiting a dual-stage loop-type modulator within a GC system with simultaneous FID and MS double detection, analysis and Gas sensors array system analysis. Gas chromatographic peak identification was carried out by means of dedicated laboratory-made GC–MS libraries and comparison of Retention Indices with those retrieved from literature, while peak quantification by means of a specifically designed software for comprehensive GC. The truffle samples were stored at +8 °C for four days in three different ways: wrapped in blotting paper or covered by rice or under vacuum. Eighty compounds were identified with high confidence (>90% of mass spectra similarity). PCA of compounds relative percentages showed differences among the fresh product and truffles stored in rice and under vacuum; on the contrary no significant volatiles composition modification was observed for truffles stored in paper.