Characterization of odor-active compounds in yellow pitaya (Hylocereus megalanthus (Haw.) Britton et Rose)

Authors

  • Clara Quijano-Célis Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Ciencias
  • Daniel Echeverri-Gil Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Alimentaria
  • Jorge A. Pino Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Alimentaria

Abstract

Yellow pitaya [Hylocereus megalanthus (Haw.) Britton et Rose] is a native cactaceae of the South American
Caribbean region. It is an exotic fruit of great economical importance in Colombia because this country is the second
main exporter of yellow pitaya in the world. Despite its importance, literature about the flavor and arama compounds
of the 1yellow pitaya is scarce. The volatile compounds of yellow pitaya fruit were isolated by simultaneous distillationsolvent
extraction and analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector, gas chromatography-olfactometry and
gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 146 volatile constituents were detected, 121 of them were positively
identified. The composition of the fruit included 29 terpenes (26.0 % of the total volatile composition), 20 aldehydes (14.3
%), 19 alcohols (5.2 %), 15 paraffins (4.0 %), 14 esters (18.2 %), 14 acids (15.9 %), 13 ketones (8.8 %), and 22 miscellaneous
compounds (7.6 %). Major compounds were hexanal (5.1 %) and -cadinene (4.7 %). The odor-active areas in the gas chromatogram
were screened by the application of the aroma extract dilution analysis and by the odor activity values. This study
revealed potent odorants that are responsible for the overall aroma of yellow pitaya fruit. Nine odorants were considered
as the most odor-active compounds: (E)-β-damascenone, 3-methylbutanal, decanal, hexanal, octanal, phenylacetaldehyde,
nonanal, 1,8-cineole, and limonene.
INTRODUCTION
Yellow pitaya [Hylocereus megalanthus

Published

2012-12-10

How to Cite

Quijano-Célis, C. ., Echeverri-Gil , D. ., & Pino, J. A. . (2012). Characterization of odor-active compounds in yellow pitaya (Hylocereus megalanthus (Haw.) Britton et Rose). NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (CENIC) CHEMICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL, 43(1), 01-07. Retrieved from https://revista.cnic.edu.cu/index.php/RevQuim/article/view/450

Issue

Section

Research articles