Volatile compounds of ditax fruit (Detarium senegalenseJ.F. Gmel) from Senegal

Nafissatou Diop Ndiaye,Marc Lebrun,Manuel Dornier

doi:10.1051/fruits/2014007

Abstract

Introduction. Detarium senegalense J.F. Gmel is a forest tree found in Senegal whose fruits are locally called ditax in Wolof. It is eaten fresh but it is widely used as nectar, which is one of the most popular beverages in Senegal. However, the chemical characterization of ditax pulp remains incomplete. This paper describes the volatile compounds of ditax to assess its organoleptic qualities. Materials and methods. Free volatile compounds of fresh ditax pulp were isolated by solvent-assisted flavor evaporation and analysis by GC-MS. Results and discussion. Among the 53 compounds tentatively identified, 49 are reported for the first time in this fruit. In total, 17 aldehydes, 11 aliphatic alcohols, 1 terpene alcohol, 7 free fatty acids, 3 unsaturated hydrocarbons, 1 terpene hydrocarbon, 7 sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, 1 phenol, 2 ketones, 2 esters and 1 organic acid compound were tentatively identified in ditax fresh pulp. The main volatiles identified in fresh ditax pulp were trans, cis-2,6-nonadienal (2.47 mg×kg–1), cis-2-heptenal (1.93 mg×kg–1), trans-a-bergamotene (1.11 mg×kg–1), bicyclo [2,2,0] hexane-1-carboxaldehyde (0.80 mg×kg–1), butyl octadecanoate (0.55 mg×kg–1) and trans-2-nonenal (0.47 mg×kg–1 fresh pulp). Conclusion. Among the volatile compounds identified, aldehyde compounds were widely predominant. To assess the aromatic qualities of ditax pulp, the primary impact aromas should be determined by identifying the aroma-active compounds by GC-olfactometry. (Resume d'auteur)

Highlights

The Detarium senegalense tree from the Ceasalpiniaceae family, an arboreal fruit species, is still found wild in Senegal (West Africa), in the Sine-Saloum islands and in Casamance [1]
The pulp is very rich in ascorbic acid [from (1.2 to 2.2) g⋅100 g–1 of fresh weight according to geographical area]; sucrose (18–20% dry weight) is the main component of the total sugars (23% dry weight) and pheophytin a (128 mg⋅kg–1 fresh weight) is the major pigment of ditax pulp [5, 6]
Our paper describes for the first time the volatile compounds of ditax to complete the chemical characterization data of this forest fruit and to assess its organoleptic qualities

Summary

Introduction

The Detarium senegalense tree from the Ceasalpiniaceae family, an arboreal fruit species, is still found wild in Senegal (West Africa), in the Sine-Saloum islands and in Casamance [1]. The Detarium senegalense fruit, locally called ditax in Wolof, is one of the most important forest fruit-bearing species with great economic importance. The pulp (34% of the fruit weight) is green and entangled in a high-fiber network firmly inserted on the stone (53% of the fruit weight), which contains one single dark brown seed [1,2,3,4]. The chemical characterization of ditax pulp remains incomplete. Our paper describes for the first time the volatile compounds of ditax to complete the chemical characterization data of this forest fruit and to assess its organoleptic qualities

Methods

Results

Conclusion