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Last Update: 01/31/00

Volatile Organic Composition In Several Cultivars of Peaches

INTRODUCTION

Flavor/fragrance qualities of peaches are greatly dependent on the volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds present both in the sample matrix and in the headspace aroma. There is a concern in the food industry over the quality of peaches due to plant origin and plant maturity. Several investigations have reported that the concentrations of volatile constituents increased with the maturation of peaches. Lactones, particularly delta-lactones, have also been implicated in peach aroma. (2,4) It was recently discovered that benzaldehyde, linalool, and the C10 lactones increased in the final period of peach maturation, while the C6 aldehydes decreased.(1)

The major volatiles of peaches appear to be useful indices for determining maturity, and recently, the determination of flavor precursors and intermediates have become the target of flavor studies. To date headspace GC analysis, cryofocusing techniques, and high-resolution GC have been used for the analysis of peach volatiles from cultivars under development.

However, static headspace techniques are limited in their detection and identification of many organic volatiles and especially the semi-volatiles organics. Other analytical techniques are needed to profile a wider range of volatile and semi-volatile organics in peach and to identify the flavors, fragrances, off-flavors, off-odors and potential contaminants that may be present. The purpose of this investigation was to develop an analytical technique that could detect and identify a wide range of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds in peach. For this study, volatile organic compounds were purged from samples of peaches followed by trapping on Tenax® TA adsorbent resin using a dynamic purge and trap technique (P&T). The adsorbent traps were subsequently analyzed by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). The P&T technique permits the analysis of a wider range of both volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds and is more sensitive as compared to the static headspace technique.

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