Assessment of shelf-life of cookies formulated with clove extracts using electronic nose Estimation of rancidity in cookies

Comparison of shelf-life of cookies with and without clove extracts (obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction) as natural antioxidant was carried out using electronic nose technology. This technology provides a faster determination of rancidity and overcomes the problems associated with normal biochemical assays. Rancidity of the cookies was determined by comparing their odor profiles with those of deliberately made rancid cookies using Fox e-nose and Heracles e-nose systems. At the end of 30 day storage period, it was found that cookies without clove extracts have shown similar odor profiles with those of deliberately made rancid cookies. Fresh cookies with clove extracts showed different odor profiles owing to high eugenol content therein and none of the cookie batches with clove extracts showed any rancidity marker; whereas, the cookies without clove extracts tend to become rancid within 30 days. These observations were further affirmed by phytochemical analyses which indicated that the addition of clove extracts as antioxidant in cookies enhanced its nutraceutical potential and shelf-life for at least a month.