Odour active aroma compounds of sea fig (Microcosmus sulcatus)

Sea fig is an original shellfish appreciated for its powerful “marine, iodized” flavour. Different methods of analysis by gas chromatography, coupled with olfactometry (GC–O), were studied and compared. Subsequently, odour-active aroma compounds of sea fig extract were analyzed by OSME and CHARM analysis. Twenty-nine olfactive areas were observed by OSME, and 18 by CHARM analysis. Volatile compounds of the extract were analyzed by mass spectrometry and specific detectors associated with the GC. Twenty molecules, responsible for these odours were elucidated. Among them, 12 were directly identified by GC–MS, and the remaining 8 only by GC–O and standard sample injection. Moreover, 10 volatile sulfur-containing compounds were revealed as the major olfactive contributors. The two principal character-impact compounds possessed “marine, fresh” and “fishy, crustaceous” odours. The first could not be identified; however, trimethylamine was attributed to the other, and defined as a key compound of sea fig aroma.