The Aroma Components in Fruits and Vegetables

Abstract

Volatiles in fresh strawberry of eight varieties and in jam products prepared from them were analyzed by gas chromatography. Fresh fruit of each variety contained 25-28 components of volatiles, and 32 components, in total, were found for all varieties, of which fifteen were idenfified by comparing their relative retention time with that of reference compounds. Main components in volatiles in fresh fruit were acetone, ethyl acetate, 1, 1-diethoxyethane, methyl n-butyrate, ethyl n-butyrate, iso-amyl acetate, and one unknown component (peak No. 9). More than 90% of total volatiles were composed of these seven components. For strawberry aroma, 1, 1-diethoxyethane seemed to be the most important component, and especially for varieties Donner and Chiyoda, its contents in total volatiles were 90 and 85% respectively. For Marshall, the content of the compound was only 20%, while for other varieties, the content ranged from 40 to 70%. Total amount of volatiles in Marshall, Koro, and Kurume was higher than others. The volatiles of fresh strawberry decreased remarkably when it was processed into jam product. However, relative concentration of 1, 1-diethoxyethane in total jam volatiles increased.