The jackfruit tree (<i>Artocarpus heterophyllus </i>Lam.) is native to South Asia, but grown all over the tropical part of the world today for its delicious fruit. The aroma of ripe jackfruit pulp combines sweet, fruity, malty, and cheesy notes. Application of gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) in combination with an aroma extract dilution analysis to the volatiles isolated from jackfruit pulp by solvent extraction and solvent-assisted flavor evaporation revealed 48 odor-active compounds with flavor dilution (FD) factors ranging from 1 to ≥8192. Additional five potent odorants were detected by screening the highly volatile fraction of jackfruit pulp with headspace-GC-O. Based on the comparison of the GC retention behavior, the odor properties, and the mass spectral data of the jackfruit odorants with data obtained from the analysis of reference compounds, 44 out of the 53 compounds could be identified. Stable isotope dilution quantitation applied to them resulted in concentrations between 16 ng/kg and 100 mg/kg. An odor activity value (OAV) was calculated for each odorant as concentration divided by the odor threshold value. 35 compounds showed OAVs &gt;1, among which fruity smelling ethyl 3-methylbutanoate was the most potent, followed by ethyl butanoate (fruity), 3-methylbutanal (malty), 2-methylpropanal (malty), butanal (malty), octanal (citrusy), hexanal (grassy), and 3-methylbutanoic acid (cheesy). As a proof of success, an aqueous odor reconstitution model was prepared from all 35 odorants with OAVs &gt;1 as well as major sugars and organic acids in their natural concentrations and adjusted to the pH of jackfruit pulp. The model was sensorially compared to fresh jackfruit pulp resulting in virtually identical olfactory profiles. Overall similarity rating was 2.9 out of 3, indicating that the key odorants of jackfruit pulp had been correctly identified and no important odorant had been overlooked.

Identification of the key odorants in jackfruit pulp by application of the sensomics approach

2019 Spring National Meeting

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