Identification of Different Pink Pomelo Varieties by Gas Chromatography-mass Spectrometry and Olfactometry Coupled to Chemometrics

To differentiate different kinds of pink pomelos, which came from the main producing area of pink pomelo varieties in China, headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and olfactometry (GC-MS-O) was used to determinate and characterize volatile profiles of different varieties. Olefins, alcohols, ketones represented the most abundant volatile compounds in all varieties of pink pomelo juices. There are 38 aroma-active compounds perceived by the trained panel of judges by using detection frequency analysis method (DFA). Principal components analysis (PCA) combining GC-MS analysis was applied and successfully distinguished six varieties of pink pomelo juices from four different geographical regions of China, which is in accordance with their vegetal sampling location. Further, partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) indicated that this model is good in correlating citrus odor. Decanal, hexan-1-ol, γ-selinene could be identified as the main characteristics to distinguish different varieties.