Relating Descriptive Sensory Analysis to Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry of Palm Sugars Using Partial Least Squares Regression

Sensory attributes of four different palm sugars were related to gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis using partial least squares regression (PLS). The sweet caramel and burnt-like sensory attributes were strongly associated with 2-furfural and 2-furan methanol volatile compounds. The sensory scores for roasty and nutty were also associated with the GC/MS ratings for roasty and nutty-like aroma by its highest scores obtained from 2-ethyl-5- methyl pyrazine, 2,5-dimethyl pyrazine and 2,3-dimethyl pyrazine volatile compounds along the PC1 dimension. PLS analysis did not show correlation for the character impact compound furaneol, 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethyl pyrazine (EDMP) and 2,3-diethyl-5-methyl pyrazine (DEMP), which are perceived to be responsible for the sweet caramel-like and roasty/nutty attributes of palm sugars, respectively. This lack of relationship could partially be explained by covariance among the sensory ratings for the samples.