Persistent interest in edamame, vegetable soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), by U.S. consumers has continued to fuel the development of a domestic edamame supply chain. Studies have shown edamame to be a nutritious specialty crop with potential to provide economic benefit to local growers. Domestically bred and grown edamame has shown to be preferred by growers and consumers with competitive agronomic traits. While domestic varieties of edamame will encourage growers to produce a product catered towards the domestic market, additional considerations of final product quality are necessary to positively influence the market success.
Domestically grown and store-bought edamame samples were utilized to research quality attributes including flavor, taste, and texture of edamame representative of domestic market and supply chain. Solid phase microextraction was utilized for aroma extraction prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) analyses to obtain (1) impactful volatile compounds present, (2) changes in these compounds by stink bug feeding injury, and (3) volatile contributions to sensory characteristics. Sensory methods were utilized to (1) evaluate differences in perception of edamame with and without stink bug feeding injury, and (2) understand important sensory characteristics for domestic edamame.
Volatile analysis recognized 16 volatile compounds when investigating edamame genotypes with 14 compounds having significant differences in contents by genotype. Only 10 compounds were consistently detected through GC-O by panelists, so called aroma-active compounds, and only one compound (E)-2-octenal was significantly different in odor intensities across genotypes. Stink bug injured samples showed dramatic differences in volatile profile compared with the not injured counterpart, from mass chromatogram; however, no noticeable differences were perceived by GC-O or sensory difference testing. An instrumental texture analysis method was proven to be sensitive enough to detect the textural differences of edamame beans after processing. The multi-dimensional sensory characteristics including taste, aroma, and texture, were established showing significant differences by edamame variety and growing location. Domestically bred edamame was found to be sweeter, as is preferred by domestic consumers, confirming encouraging breeding outcome. Despite significant differences in edamame volatile profiles by genotype and stink bug feeding injury, sensory discrimination of these differences seems to be less noticeable than changes from taste and texture. Utilizing our findings toward future research and product development will support the domestic edamame supply chain by providing a foundational understanding of quality attributes and their impacts. / Doctor of Philosophy / Edamame, or vegetable soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), has been gaining popularity in the U.S. as plant based and alternative proteins continue to see increased attention. Research has shown edamame to be a nutritious specialty crop with potential to provide economic benefit to local growers. Edamame developed and grown in the U.S. has been shown to be preferred by growers and consumers. Understanding the quality of these products is important for a positive and lasting presence in the market.
In this work, locally grown edamame as well as storebought edamame were investigated for flavor and texture. Chemistry methods to research volatile compounds were used to determine impactful flavor compounds, changes in these compounds caused by stink bug injury, and specific aroma of these compounds in edamame. Sensory methods were used to determine differences in edamame injured by stink bugs and to determine taste, flavor, and texture terms related to local edamame.
This work identified 16 volatile compounds consistently in edamame samples with 14 being found to vary in amount by edamame genotype. Only 10 volatile compounds were detected through human sniffing results with only one being found to vary in amount of aroma detected by edamame genotype. Edamame showing visual signs of stink bug feeding injury showed different amounts of chemical compounds compared to the uninjured edamame, but aroma detected by human sniffing and sensory evaluation did not show differences. A method using a texture instrument was proven to be sensitive enough to detect even minor differences of edamame beans by texture. Sensory qualities including taste, aroma, and texture, were found to have differences in edamame based on edamame variety and growing location of the edamame. Locally bred and grown edamame was found to be sweeter than comparable edamame, as is preferred by consumer in the U.S. Despite differences in volatile compounds in edamame as identified in volatile analysis by differences in stink bug feeding injury, edamame genotype, and growing location, detection of these differences through aroma and taste by human panelists is not seen in this work. Providing these understanding of sensory qualities and their impact on the edamame will help support the local edamame supply in decision making and product development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/119083 |
| Date | 23 May 2024 |
| Creators | Miller, Rebekah Jane |
| Contributors | Food Science and Technology, Yin, Yun, Duncan, Susan E., Boyer, Renee R., Lahne, Jacob, Kuhar, Thomas P. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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