Mouldy and musty off-flavour in garlic is caused by the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole

The occurrence of garlic with expressed mouldy, musty and cork taint-like off-flavour is of serious concern for the food industry as it may cause significant economic damage. In this study, we investigated a total of 42 garlic samples for their concentrations of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) and 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA). The TCA odour thresholds in two garlic matrices were determined to evaluate the impact of the TCA presence on garlic’s flavour properties. While TCA was identified in more than 45% of the samples in concentrations of up to 78 µg kg−1, TBA was not detected in any of the samples. In approx. 35% of the garlic samples, the concentrations were higher than the odour threshold. It is noteworthy that garlic preparations that are to be further processed by the food industry, on average, show higher contamination rates than samples drawn from retail. The results of this survey demonstrate that it is of the utmost importance for food processing companies to perform a sensory evaluation of the garlic or garlic formulations prior to their use in order to avoid economic damage and to minimize food waste.