Comparison of Different Extraction Methods in the Analysis of Volatile Compounds in Pomegranate Juice

Consumption and production of pomegranate fruit and juice have been increasing. Many pomegranate volatile reports involved commercial samples, complicated isolation methods, or different cultivars. In this study, three different techniques including simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE), headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME), and purge and trap (P&T) with Tenax TA absorbent were employed to extract the aromatic compounds of two different juices (PJ and PJS) of red Socotran pomegranate. A total of 36 compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that the P&T and HS-SPME methods complementarily contributed to extract the aroma compounds related with the pomegranate flavor, and the most important contributors to the pomegranate juice flavors were identified as n-hexaldehyde, leaf aldehyde, 1-hexyl alcohol, butyl acetate, myrcene, and phenyl acetaldehyde in this paper.