Abstract
With the globalization of food trade, it’s traceability and genuineness becomes increasingly more difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to develop analytical tools to define the authenticity and genuineness of food-derived products. In the current work, headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC–MS) combined with chemometric tools was used to establish the volatile fingerprint of apple ciders produced in different geographical regions of Madeira Island, in order to define their typicity and to identify putative geographical markers. A total of 143 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) belonging to different chemical families have been identified, of which 28 were found in all apple ciders independently of geographical region. Esters, terpenic and furanic compounds presented on average a higher contribution for the total volatile fingerprint in cider produced in northern region of the Island, whereas alcohols, acids, volatile phenols, carbonyl compounds and lactones in cider from southern region. Considering the relative areas of the VOCs, 43 revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between geographical regions, and 11 between northern and southern regions. A clear differentiation among cider-producing regions was observed on the developed partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model. Two alcohols (1-hexanol, 1-octanol), 6 esters (methyl acetate, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol acetate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl nonanote, ethyl octanoate, isoamyl octanoate) and 1 terpenic compound (limonene), can be considered putative geographic markers due to their discriminatory ability. The results obtained recognize the specific and typical geographical characteristics of the cider, which will allow the forthcoming guarantee for the construction of a sustainable platform for the establishment of the authenticity and typicality of the regional cider.
Highlights
Apple cider is a traditional alcoholic beverage fermented from apple juice, with increasing consumption and production worldwide
HS-solid-phase microextraction (SPME)/GC-qMS data combined with chemometric tools enabled a comprehensive knowledge of the different apple ciders produced in Madeira Island
A total of 143 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified in the investigated apple ciders, belonging to different chemical families, and only 28 VOCs from these were common to all apple ciders
Summary
Apple cider is a traditional alcoholic beverage fermented from apple juice, with increasing consumption and production worldwide. In 2017, across Madeira Island, around 130 ha were dedicated to the production of 2000 tons of apples, subsequently leading to 3328 hl of apple cider. Opposite to evidence in the remaining country, the cider-making by traditional process has never been discontinued in Madeira Island (Perestrelo, Silva, Silva, et al, 2019). Due to the edaphoclimatic and geographical characteristics associated with the organoleptic quality of the different endogenous varieties of cultivated apples, Madeira Island has all the natural conditions to produce excellent quality apple ciders. The aroma and flavour of apple ciders rely on the quality of the apples used during cider-making, which is associated to several factors, namely cultivars diversity and geographical climatic conditions (Pello-Palma et al, 2017). The combination of the several factors influenced the final product with the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be used for
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