# Shedding Light on the Volatile Composition of _Broa_, a Traditional Portuguese Maize Bread
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Identification of Volatile Compounds in Maize Flour and Broas
\begin{tabular}{c} **’Nonalactone *_ \\ **[S-penly-dihydro-201b-furan]** \\ \end{tabular}  & 93 & 1363 & 1360 (DB-SMS) [50] & Cocount [20,26,49], peach [49], sweet, fruity [20] \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**92**} & B & \multirow{2}{*}{24.25} & \multirow{2}{*}{**2-Undecneal**} & 87 & 1366 & \multirow{2}{*}{1365 (DB-S) [51]} & \multirow{2}{*}{Fruity [20,51], geranium, metallic, pungent, sweet, green, fatty [51]} \\ \cline{2-2} \cline{5-5}  & F & 24.32 & N.L. & 87 & 1369 & n/a & n/a \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**93**} & F & 24.38 & **2.611-Timethyldodecane** & 91 & 1371 & \multirow{2}{*}{1375 (DB-S) [50]} & \multirow{2}{*}{n/f} \\ \cline{2-2} \cline{5-5}  & B & \multirow{2}{*}{24.39} & \multirow{2}{*}{**2,710-Timethyldodecane**} & 1372 & \multirow{2}{*}{1375 (DB-S) [50]} & \multirow{2}{*}{n/f} \\ \cline{2-2} \cline{5-5}  & B & \multirow{2}{*}{24.93} & \multirow{2}{*}{**1-Tetradecene**} & 93 & 1392 & \multirow{2}{*}{1392 (DB-S) [50,51]} & \multirow{2}{*}{n/f} \\ \cline{2-2} \cline{5-5}  & F & & & & & & \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline
**Peak** & **B/F** & **RT (min)** & **Compound** & **SI (\%)** & **LRI** & **LRI** & **Odor Description** \\ \hline
**96** & F & 25.10 & **Tetradecane** & 96 & 1397 & 1399 (DB-9) [51] & Mild herbaceous, sweet, fused-like [51] \\ \cline{2-7}  & B & & & 97 & 1400 & 1408 (DB-9) [51] & Only, herbal, fatty, citrus, wavy [51] \\ \cline{2-7}
**97** & F & 25.34 & **Dodecanal** & 86 & 1408 (DB-9) [51] & Only, herbal, fatty, citrus, wavy [51] \\ \cline{2-7}  & B & & & & 1423 & 1426 (DB-9) [51] & Floral, violet, woody, fruity [51] \\ \cline{2-7}
**98** & F & 25.74 & **\(\alpha\)-lonone** & & 1423 & 1426 (DB-9) [51] & Floral, violet, woody, fruity [51] \\ \cline{2-7}
**99** & B & & & 93 & 1448 & 1448 (DB-9) [51] & Fresh, floral, rosy-green, fruity odor [51] \\ \cline{2-7}
**100** & B & 26,96 & N.L & 91 & 1471 & n/a & n/a \\ \cline{2-7}
**101** & F & 26,98 & **Dodecanol** & 90 & 1473 & 1470 (DB-9) [50] & Wavy-type [20] \\ \cline{2-7}
**102** & F & & & 93 & 1499 & 1500 (DB-9) [51] & Mild green, fused-like [51] \\ \cline{2-7}  & B & & & 92 & 1499 & & \\ \cline{2-7}
**103** & F & 28.79 & N.L & 90 & 1547 & n/a & n/a \\ \hline
**104** & B & 28.88 & **2-Butyl-1-octanol [T.L]** & 91 & 1550 & 1277 (DB-9) [50] & n/t \\ \cline{2-7}
**105** & F & 29,25 & N.L & 90 & 1566 & n/a & n/a \\ \hline
**106** & F & 29,94 & **Hexadecane** & 95 & 1595 & 1600 (DB-9) [51] & Fused-like, fruity, sweet [51] \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
* RT: retention time, mix: minutes; SI: similarity index; LRI: linear retention index; NL: net identified; TL: tentatively identified; n/a: not applicable; n/f: not found.
* Important volatile compounds described in wheel and eye breaks, popcorn or extended music products [8, 17, 20, 24, 23, 3].  
\end{table} 
Table 2: _Cont._Aldehydes were the most abundant volatiles detected in maize flours, corresponding to 30% of the total chromatogram area, which is in accordance with results previously reported [35; 40; 42]. Alcohols (21%), hydrocarbons (21%) ketones (11%), terpenes (<1%) and lipid-derived furans (<1%) were also among the most important families of compounds. It was not possible to confirm the identification of seven compounds, but putative identifications were performed. Peak 49 presents a spectrum that is very similar to 6-nonenal (\(Z\)) and 5-undecene (Z), having identical similarity indexes. The presence of the ion at \(m/z\) 29, also present in other aldehydes, suggests that this compound is 6-nonenal. In turn, the mass spectrum of peak 50 suggests a structure corresponding to pantolactone (dihydro-3-hydroxy-4,4-dimethyl-2(3H)-furanone), with a molecular ion at \(m/z\) 130 and three major fragments at \(m/z\) 43, 57 and 71. However, it was not possible to confirm the identification of this compound, since the LRI values found in the literature were not similar (>1% deviation) to the LRI obtained in the present work. The chromatographic profiles suggested that several different compounds could be co-eluting.