Volatile constituents of durian (Durio zibethinus Murr.)

The volatile constituents of three different clones of durian ( Durio zibethinus Murr.) were isolated by vacuum distillation with subsequent extraction of the distillates with dichloromethane. The concentrated extracts were analysed by capillary GC and GC‐MS. A total of 63 constituents were identified, comprising 30 esters, 16 sulphurcontaining compounds, 5 ketones, 8 alcohols and 4 miscellaneous compounds. All three clones produced approximately the same proportions of esters and of ketones. The first‐mentioned chemical class was quantitatively the most important among durian volatiles. There was much variation in the content of sulphur volatiles among the three clones. Identified among this chemical class were some uncommon plant volatiles such as cis ‐ and trans ‐3,5‐dimethyl‐1,2,4‐trithiolane and S‐alkyl esters of alkylthiocarboxylic acids.