MEETING NOTICE
481st Meeting of the Society of Flavor Chemists, Inc.
Wednesday, September 30th, 2026
Rutherford, NJ
9:30am-6:00pm EST
Renaissance Meadowlands
801 Rutherford Ave, Rutherford, NJ 07070
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
8:00 – 10:00 am SFC Board of Directors Meeting
9:15 – 9:30 am Registration for Training Session
9:30 – 11:30 am Training Session on Natural Materials hosted by JD Vora
10:00 – 11:45 am SFC Board and Committee Chairs Meeting
11:30 – 1:00 pm Meeting Registration
12:00 – 1:00 pm Buffet Lunch
1:00 – 1:30 pm CSA: Joe Syrko, New Business Development & Account Manager- Isobionics
“How Biotech Is Complimentary to Nature”
Essential oils have been extracted from fruits and plants for flavor use for millennia. However, key terpene flavor molecules are often low in abundance, requiring a large harvest for a small amount of product. Additionally, the extraction of essential oil often yields a complex mixture of terpenes that are difficult to separate and can be highly variable due to weather, location, season, extraction method and variety of plant. This leads to a volatile sourcing environment, with volumes and pricing also changing each harvest. An alternative to this approach is to produce the key components of essential oils by fermentation, in a process akin to brewing beer. By using fermentation, we can control the complete process which allows us to produce an identical product each time with a higher purity. Join us to learn more about how Biotechnology is helping to compliment nature.
1:30 – 2:10 pm Andrew Maust, PhD Candidate, University of Arkansas
“Sensory and Volatile Profile Characterization of Nontraditional Yeasts in Nonalcoholic Beer Production”
The demand for nonalcoholic beer (NAB) is growing, with nontraditional yeast strains emerging as valuable tools for brewers to craft distinct NABs. However, independent information about the performance of these commercially available yeasts remains limited. In this study, 11 nontraditional yeast strains were evaluated at two wort nutrient levels to assess their impact on beer chemistry, sensory attributes, and volatile profiles. Basic fermentation metrics were monitored, followed by descriptive sensory analysis and GC–MS/MS quantification of volatile compounds. Results revealed significant differentiation among yeast strains with unique aroma and flavor profiles driven by variations in ester production, fusel alcohol synthesis, and aldehyde reduction. These findings provide brewers with actionable insights to select yeasts that align with desired NAB characteristics, enabling the production of style-specific and high-quality NABs.
2:10 – 2:50 pm Aqsa Chatha, PhD Candidate, University of Illinois
“From Acetate to Aroma: Sustainable Process Flavor Generation from Microbial Consortia”
Harnessing microbial consortia originating from renewable carbon sources offers an eco-friendly, sustainable solution to produce process flavors. In the present study, Escherichia coli Strain Nissle 1917, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (21CFR 172.896 and 184.1983) and Rhodotorula toruloides were cocultured together on an acetate, and the resulting biomass was autolyzed and hydrolyzed using minimal resources. Autolyzed microbial biomass (Aut-MBP) and hydrolyzed microbial biomass (H-MBP) were analyzed for their amino-nitrogen and free amino acid contents and further subjected to produce a base process flavor model comprising solely microbial biomass and a fortified process model system including cysteine and ribose, along with microbial biomass. Results indicated that Aut-MBP has higher free amino-nitrogen contents and a lesser amount of free amino acids. On the other hand, H-MBP has a lesser amount of free amino-nitrogen content but has a higher amount of free amino acids. The effect of Aut-MBP and H-MBP process models on the aroma precursors (free amino acids) as well as key odor impact compounds will also be discussed. This study, for the first time, will provide fundamental knowledge on the release of flavor constituents from microbial biomass harvested from a non-conventional carbon source (acetate), which will offer an opportunity to substitute yeast extract or hydrolyzed vegetable protein in the food and flavor industry with a sustainable solution for the next generation of food.
2:50 – 3:05 pm Break
3:05 – 3:45 pm Yashmita Grover, PhD Candidate, Pennsylvania State University
“Exploring Quinine–Salivary Protein Interactions as a Mechanism of Bitterness Modulation”
Bitterness is an aversive taste that can limit the acceptance of nutritionally beneficial foods like vegetables. Its perception begins with the dissolution of bitterants in saliva before they can activate taste receptors. Saliva is composed of water, ions, and critically, proteins, which may interact with bitterants in the oral cavity. Salivary proteins could influence taste by interacting with either taste receptors or chemical stimuli; to date, most evidence comes from animal studies, leaving the contribution of salivary proteins to bitterness perception in humans incompletely understood. Here, we explored binding interactions between human salivary proteins and quinine as a step toward understanding their potential role in bitterness perception. Saliva from 46 healthy volunteers was pooled and separated (3 kDa filter) into low and high molecular weight protein fractions. Protein-unbound quinine was quantified in whole and fractionated saliva using fluorescence spectroscopy, and binding was further characterized using isothermal titration calorimetry and analytical ultracentrifugation. The proportion of unbound quinine decreased with increasing protein concentration (to 59% at 0.6 mg/mL protein). Salivary proteins showed higher binding coefficient and reaction enthalpy, binding quinine comparably at 4.3X lower protein concentration than sodium caseinate, a food-grade protein previously studied by our team. Low molecular weight salivary proteins and peptides were particularly active, displaying the highest binding coefficient and enthalpy. This was further supported by the presence of protein-quinine complexes at higher sedimentation coefficients. This study demonstrates that human salivary proteins bind quinine, suggesting a potential endogenous mechanism for modulating bitterness perception. This work provides a foundation for understanding how individual differences in salivary composition may influence flavor perception and offers new insights for designing bitterness-modulating strategies in food and beverage applications.
3:45 – 4:30 pm Swetha Sarangarajan, PhD Candidate, Ohio State University
“Beyond Sugars: Aroma and Chemical Contributors to Sweetness Perception in Specialty Coffee”
Sweetness is a critical sensory attribute driving quality, value, and consumer preference in specialty coffee, yet the mechanisms underlying its perception remain poorly resolved, particularly the relative contributions of direct gustatory stimulation versus multisensory flavor interactions. This study integrates sensory evaluation with targeted and untargeted flavoromic approaches to elucidate volatile and non‑volatile contributors to sweetness perception in brewed specialty coffee. Sensory rank‑rating assessments conducted with and without nasal occlusion revealed pronounced differences in perceived sweetness that could not be explained by saccharide content alone, indicating a multimodal basis for sweetness perception. Aroma‑active compounds were characterized using GC‑MS/O (GC‑MS/Olfactometry), with 41 odor‑active compounds identified by trained panelists in duplicate across complementary column chemistries (DB‑5 and DB‑Wax). Multivariate modeling enabled the identification of volatile compounds positively and negatively correlated with sweetness perception, which were subsequently quantified using GC‑MS/MS and are currently being evaluated through sensory recombination studies to determine their causal roles in modulating sweetness. In parallel, untargeted LC‑MS‑QToF analyses performed in both positive and negative ESI modes provided comprehensive coverage of non‑volatile coffee chemistry, yielding multiple features associated with sweetness perception independent of saccharide content, with ongoing efforts focused on their isolation and structural identification. Collectively, this work advances the mechanistic understanding of sweetness as a chemically and perceptually complex attribute and provides an integrated analytical–sensory framework with direct relevance to flavor chemistry, sensory science, and specialty coffee quality assessment.
4:30 – 5:00 pm SFC Business Meeting (members only) –In person and via Zoom
5:00 – 6:00 pm Poster Session & Cocktail Reception
ATTENDEE REGISTRATION & HOTEL RESERVATIONS to follow shortly. Please check back.