Characterization of the reversion flavor of soybean oil

The reversion flavor isolated from reverted-but-not-rancid soybean oil was separated into 14 fractions by gas-liquid chromatography. The gas chromatographic fractions were collected in specially designed gas cells and polyethylene capillary traps for the determination of their infrared spectra by micro techniques. Ethyl formate, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, n-butyraldehyde, 2-heptanone, and 2-heptenal were positively identified. Presence of alcohol, ester, and possibly dimethyl amino compounds in the fractions with higher chromatographic retention times was indicated by infrared analyses. Ultimate analyses of the flavor compounds isolated from reverted-but-not-rancid soybean oil also indicated the presence of nitrogen compounds.