Researchers have identified key aroma compounds in dog food that seem to be the most appealing to canines. The team published their results in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
In order to understand how aroma might influence dogs’ food intake, the researchers from Jiangnan University began by feeding six adult beagles one of six foods for one hour each and determining how much the dogs ate. The intake of three of the foods was two to four times higher than that of the other three foods. Using mass spectrometry, the researchers found that 12 volatile aroma molecules were correlated—either positively or negatively—with dogs’ intake of six foods studied.
Then, the researchers added each aroma compound to an odorless food and made the beagles choose between food containing one of the compounds and the odorless food itself. From these experiments, the team determined that the dogs preferred food containing (E)-2-hexenal (which humans associate with an unpleasant, fatty odor), 2-furfurylthiol (sulfury, roasted, smoky odor) and 4-methyl-5-thiazoleethanol (meaty odor).
In contrast, the dogs didn't care for food containing (E)-2-octenal (a slightly different unpleasant, fatty odor). Their results might help with the formulation of more palatable dog food.