Volatile compounds captured through purge and trap technique in caja-umbu (Spondias sp.) fruits during maturation

This work identifies the volatile compounds present in the pulp of caja-umbu (Spondias sp.) fruits harvested at two different stages (half-ripe and ripe) of maturation. The volatiles were captured through purge and trap technique. The half-ripe caja-umbu fruit pulp contained 67 components among which the principal compounds, representing an area of 71.7% of chromatogram, were identified as beta-caryophyllene (22.2%), 2-methyl butanal (19.3%), 2-hexanol (18.6%), ethyl butyrate (7.6%) and alpha-caryophyllene (3.9%). However, in the ripe caja-umbu fruit pulp, 70 compounds were detected among which 2-methyl butanal (28.4%), 2-hexanol (15.0%), beta-caryophyllene (14.1%), ethyl butyrate (6.1%) and alpha-caryophyllene (2.4%) were prominent compounds. There were notable quantitative differences in prominent compounds such as beta-caryophyllene and 2-hexanol which were quantitatively higher in half-ripe fruits while 2-methyl butanal known to possess characteristic pungent fresh fruit aroma increased with maturation, being relatively higher in its content in ripe fruits. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.