Characterisation of odour‐active compounds in cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) fruit

Optimized solid‐phase microextraction GC‐Olfactometry, and solvent‐assisted flavour evaporation, combined with aroma extract dilution analysis and with the determination of odour activity values by quantitative GC‐FID and GC‐MS were used to analyse volatile compounds from cherimoya fruit and to estimate the most odour‐active compounds. The analysis led to the identification of 92 compounds, 78 of them were positively identified. 18 odourants were considered as potentially odour‐active compounds and contribute to the typical cherimoya aroma, from which 3‐methylbutyl butanoate, α‐pinene, methyl 2‐methylbutanoate, butyl butanoate, and 3‐methylbutyl 3‐methylbutanoate were the most odour‐active compounds. HS‐SPME‐GC‐O has a great potential as fast and simple tool to control and assess aroma quality of cherimoya fruit.