Reducing the undesirable odor of barley by cooking with superheated steam.

Superheated steam was used to cook barley and the volatile odor compounds and release of odorants from the steamed barley were analyzed. The main odor compounds in cooked barley were aldehydes (hexanal and (,)-2,4-decadienal) and acids (acetic acid and hexanoic acid). Compared to ordinary cooked barley, barley cooked by superheated steam had less odorants, and the release of odorants was reduced by almost half.