Determination of major aroma impact compounds in fermented cucumbers by solid-phase microextraction--gas chromatography--mass spectrometry--olfactometry detection.

Purge-and-trap, solid-phase extraction, and solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) sample preparation techniques for the analysis of odor impact chemicals in fermented cucumber brine are compared. SPME-GC-MS is coupled with detection frequency olfactometry experiments to determine key impact odor compounds in the brine. The most potent odorants that define the typical characteristic brine aroma are trans-4-hexenoic acid and cis-4-hexenoic acid. Confirmation of key impact odorants in brine is confirmed by recombination experiments.