Original Article

Analysis of volatile compounds in ve jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.)

cultivars using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas
chromatography-time-of-ight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS)
B.T. Ong
a
, S.A.H. Nazimah
a,
, C.P. Tan
b
, H. Mirhosseini
b
, A. Osman
a
, D. Mat Hashim
b
, G. Rusul
a
a
Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Department of Food Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
b
Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Department of Food Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 19 May 2006
Received in revised form
29 January 2008
Accepted 19 March 2008
Keywords:
Jackfruit volatile compounds
Artocarpus heterophyllus L.
Cultivars
Fruit quality
Fruit aroma
Solid-phase microextraction
Gas chromatography
Time-of-ight mass spectrometry
Principal component analysis
Food composition
Food analysis
a b s t r a c t
In the present study, the jackfruit volatile compounds were established using solid-phase microextrac-
tion (SPME) and gas chromatography-time-of-ight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). Qualitative and
quantitative analyses were carried out using 5g samples with divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethyl-
siloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) bre at 30 1C for 10 min. Rapid spectral acquisition rate of 10 spectra/s by the
GC-TOFMS permitted identication and quantication of compounds having chromatographic peak
widths of only a fraction of second. For SPME-GC-TOFMS analysis, the total time was approximately
18min. Thirty-seven compounds were identied from ve jackfruit cultivars. The main jackfruit volatile
compounds were: ethyl isovalerate, 3-methylbutyl acetate, 1-butanol, propyl isovalerate, isobutyl
isovalerate, 2-methylbutanol, and butyl isovalerate. These compounds were consistently present in all
the ve cultivars and this suggests the compounds contributed to the sweet and fruity note of jackfruit.
Principal component analysis (PCA) applied to the data, differentiated the ve jackfruit cultivars
according to their unique avour compounds and explained 88% of the total variance.
& 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Because jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) is cross-pollinated
and mostly seed propagated, it exhibits a wide range of variation in
fruit quality. Different cultivated varieties vary widely in size, shape,
bearing, and sensory qualities. Cultivars of commercially cultivated
jackfruit are known with different local names (Nagy et al., 1990).
Flavours are one of the most important components responsible for
the nal overall distinctive sensory properties (i.e. taste and smell)
in food. While the appearance and colour of a food provides the rst
indication of quality, avour is critical in conrming that initial
impression (Cardello, 1994). In the case of fruits, aroma is one of the
most appreciated characteristics. Flavour is an important character-
istic which can be used to distinguish different types of fruits or
fruits belonging to the same variety but different cultivars (Kays,
1991). Fruit avour is particularly sensitive to compositional
alterations. The volatiles produced by a harvested product can be
altered by a wide range of preharvest and postharvest conditions.
Overall, avour is affected by genetics, preharvest environment,
harvest maturity, and postharvest handling or storage. Both
qualitative and quantitative information are desired in order to
monitor avour quality and ripeness and to provide quality control
for fresh and processed products (Baldwin et al., 1999a; Romani
et al., 1983; Fellman et al., 1993b).
The most typically utilized methods for extraction and
preconcentration are headspace techniques, purge and trap,
liquidliquid extraction, simultaneous distillationextraction,
solid-phase extraction, and supercritical uid extraction. Most of
these methods are very time consuming and require exhaustive
concentration steps. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a
solventless extraction alternative to conventional sample extrac-
tion technique. In SPME, analytes establish equilibria among the
sample matrix, the headspace above the sample, and a stationary
phase coated on a fused silica bre; they are then thermally
desorbed from the bre to a capillary column. SPME has been
applied to the analysis of volatile and nonvolatile compounds
(Arthur and Pawliszyn, 1990) in gaseous and liquid samples
and to analyse avour in apple juice (Zierler et al., 2004), apple
(Matich et al., 1996; Song et al., 1997), beef (Moon and Li-Chan,
2004), wine (Demyttenaere et al., 2003; Marti et al., 2003), cheese
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfca
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
0889-1575/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2008.03.002

Corresponding author. Tel.: +60389468386; fax: +60389423552.

E-mail address: nazimah@putra.upm.edu.my (S.A.H. Nazimah).
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 21 (2008) 416422
(Chin et al., 1996; Lecanu et al., 2002; Bellesia et al., 2003; Kim
et al., 2003a), avocado (Lopez et al., 2004), and coffee (Bicchi et al.,
2002; Akiyama et al., 2003). However, SPME application in
analysing jackfruit avour of different cultivars has yet to be
reported.
Time-of-ight in a eld-free chamber is a measure of ion mass
and is ideally suited for very rapid sampling rates, and it
essentially detects all the ions in a mass spectrum simultaneously,
instead of scanning the spectrum. This yields a large increase in
the sensitivity with which product ion spectra are detected, up to
100-fold in favourable cases (Mellon et al., 2000). The speed of the
detector is based on application of rapid gas chromatography (GC)
separations with the resultant time compression of peaks. With
the combination of fast GC and the time-of-ight mass spectro-
meter (TOFMS), the quantitative and qualitative analysis time can
be shortened at least 10-fold (Song et al., 1997).
The aim of the present study was to (1) characterize the
volatile compounds prole of ve jackfruit cultivars and (2)
determine the major volatile compounds responsible for jackfruit
avour by using principal component analysis (PCA).
2. Material and methods
The solid-phase assembly holder and 65mm polydimethylsi-
loxane (PDMS), 50/30mm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethyl-
siloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS), and 65mm polydimethylsiloxane/
divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) were purchased from Supelco
(Bellefonte, PA, USA). Standards were purchased from Aldrich
Chemical Co. (Milwaukee, WI, USA) and Fluka Chemical Corp.
(Buchs, Switzerland).
2.1. Plant material
Five cultivars of jackfruit (J1, J3, J6, J30, and J31) were obtained
from a commercial farm in Bidor, Perak, Malaysia. Three batches
of fruits were collected at different harvesting periods (May, July,
and August 2004). The harvested fruits were immediately
transported on the same day to the laboratory at Universiti Putra
Malaysia. Fruits were then allowed to ripen at ambient tempera-
ture (7281C; 7075% RH) for 5 days. Fruits were cleaned and cut.
The fruit bulbs were removed and deseeded prior to analysis.
Fresh samples were randomly selected for avour analysis.
Analyses were carried out in triplicates.
2.2. Standards and sample preparation
For qualitative and quantitative analyses, standard mixtures
were prepared by diluting methyl 3-methylbutanoate, ethyl
3-methylbutanoate, hexanal, propyl 3-methyl butanoate,
2-methylpropyl 3-methyl-butanoate and benzaldehyde with
methanol to give a concentration ranging from 0.1 to 50ppm.
Jackfruit pulp (100g) together with 500ppm propyl propanoate
and methyl hexanoate in methanol dissolved as internal stan-
dards, were homogenized using a Waring blender for 2min. The
concentration of internal standard in the jackfruit sample was
5.0ppm. It should be noted that the addition of internal standard
plus external standard has been basically recommended for
quantitative analysis using SPME-GC in previous literatures
(Pawliszyn, 1998; Supelco Bulletin 929, 2001). Five concentration
levels of each analyte ranging from 0.1 to 50ppm were prepared
for plotting standard calibration curves. For quantitative analysis,
the [volatile compound/internal standard] peak area ratio
obtained for each compound was interpolated into the calibration
curves. In this study, 10ml of butyl acetate standard solution
(1000mg l
1
) was used as internal standard. A 5g sample was
weighed into a 20 ml headspace vial, with Teon-lined septum
was immediately sealed with an aluminium crimp seal. The
headspace depth was approximately 4cm.
2.3. SPME sampling
SPME bres were used to collect and concentrate volatiles by
virtue of its sorption characteristics (Arthur and Pawliszyn, 1990).
The bre is housed in a stainless-steel needle, which allows for
penetration of the membrane covering the sample vial and the
septum in the GC injection port. Once inside the sample vial,
the bre was pushed out of the assembly holder and exposed to
the headspace above the sample and equilibrated with the sample
at 301C. The results obtained from our preliminary work indicated
that the HS-SPME extraction at 301C for 10min using 5g sample
with DVB/CAR/PDMS bre under stirring mode resulted in the
largest extraction efciency. Samples were equilibrated at 30 1C
for 30min prior to sampling (data not shown). Thus, the
corresponded optimum condition was considered for qualitative
and quantitative analyses in the present study. The SPME bre
was then removed from the sample vial and volatiles adsorped
onto the bre were thermally desorbed from the bre into the
glass-lined, splitless-split injector port of a gas chromatography
(Agilent 6890N) for 5min at 2501C. Each of the three bres was
preconditioned at recommended temperature for a recommended
time according to the manufacturers instruction. Samples were
equilibrated at 301C for 30min prior to sampling.
2.4. Separation and detectionSPME/GC/TOFMS
Absorbed volatiles were desorbed from the bre into the
Agilent 6890 GC as described previously. Volatiles were separated
using a capillary column (Supelco Wax-10, 10m0.1mm i.e.
0.1mm lm thickness). The ow rate of the carrier gas, heliumwas
at a constant ow rate of 0.2ml min
1
. The temperature
programme was isothermal for 1.5min at 401C and then raised
at the rate of 251Cmin
1
2501C, and held for 1min. The GC/MS
transfer line temperature was 2201C. Mass spectra were collected
at a rate of 30 spectra/s over a range of m/z 35400. Volatiles were
detected with TOFMS using electron ionization (LECO Pegasus 3;
LECO Corporation, St. Joseph, MI). The ionization energy was
70eV. Data were analysed using the LECO deconvolution software
(ChromTOF). Identication of volatile components was conrmed
by matching the mass spectra obtained from authenticated
standards and spectra in the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) mass spectral library, Version 2.0. Quantica-
tion was performed by external calibration and calibration curves
were plotted on a series of concentration of the standards.
2.5. Statistical analysis
Data collected was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA)
using the MINITAB statistical software (Version 13, USA) and PCA
(Unscrambler, Version 7.6, CAMO A/S, Trondheim, Norway).
Analyses were performed on standardized mean data. Full cross-
validation was used as a validation criterion.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Selection of bre and extraction time
For the selection of a suitable bre for adsorption of volatile
compounds in the headspace of jackfruit samples, three types of
ARTICLE IN PRESS
B.T. Ong et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 21 (2008) 416422 417
SPME bres (i.e. 65mm PDMS, 65mm PDMS/DVB, and 50/30mm
DVB/CAR/PDMS) were evaluated. Among the three SPME bres
tested, 50/30mm DVB/CAR/PDMS bre coating showed better
signal response than the two other bres for total peak area
(Fig. 1). More compounds were also extracted using 50/30mm
DVB/CAR/PDMS. Therefore, 50/30mm DVB/CAR/PDMS bre was
selected in this study as the most suitable bre due to its
high sensitivity with good reproducibility. The reproducibility of
SPME bre was expressed as the coefcient of variation (RSD) on
the peak areas of the volatile compounds after triplicate
extraction. Low RSD% showed high reproducibility of headspace
sampling. RSD for selected volatile compounds detected by
all three bres was in the range of 25% (data not shown).
PDMS coating has been used for analysis of both polar and
non-polar volatile compounds (Miller et al., 1996; Steffen and
Pawliszyn, 1996). According to Moon and Li-Chan (2004) this may
be the result of improved stability of coating material as
compared to other commercially available bres. The authors
reported total area counts of the headspace volatiles of beef
avour with a coefcient of variation of 2.9% and observed no
signicant carry over from previous injection using the 50/30mm
DVB/CAR/PDMS. According to Young et al. (1996) as cited by
Keszler and He berger (1999), the average error in SPME method
can be characterized by RSD that may range between 2.5%
and 37%.
In headspace SPME techniques, the extraction time is an
important parameter inuencing the extraction yield. Fig. 2 shows
that the extraction time of 10min using DVB/CAR/PDMS yielded
the largest recovery of analytes. Signal response or peak area of
the analytes increased signicantly (Po0.05) at 10min of
extraction time. The response decreased at an extraction time of
15min, and reached a plateau at 30min. The point where the
curve plateaus or levels off is considered to be the equilibration
time (Steffen and Pawliszyn, 1996). Zierler et al. (2004) deter-
mined off-avour compounds in apple juice and reported a similar
behaviour where the recovery of the analytes decreased insignif-
icantly with increasing extraction time and concluded that this
behaviour may be possibly due to the saturation of the bre and
beginning of the desorption processes.
3.2. Volatile compounds of jackfruit cultivars
TOFMS was found to be of sufciently sensitivity for rapid and
efcient detection of aroma volatiles. According to Song et al.
(1997), the unskewed nature of fragmentation patterns obtained,
allowed individual component spectral characterization of un-
known compounds even when not fully chromatographically
separated. Thus, the time required for chromatography could be
reduced by an order of magnitude without loss in analytical
performance. In this study, the determination of volatile com-
pounds in jackfruit using SPME/GC-TOFMS was approximately
18min.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
3.E+07
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Volatile compounds
PDMS PDMS/DVB DVB/CAR/PDMS
P
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A
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Fig. 1. Comparison of different SPME bres (PDMS, PDMS/DVB and DVB/CAR/PDMS) after extraction for 10 min at 30 1C and separated using Supelco Wax-10 (10 m0.1mm
i.e. 0.1mm lm thickness).
3.E+07
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Extraction time (min)
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3-methylbutanal
Butyl acetate
Isolbutyl isovalerate
n-Amyl isovalerate
Methyl isovalerate
3-methylbutyl acetate
3-methylbutanol
Ethyl isovalerate
Proyl isovalerate
Butyl isovalerate
Fig. 2. Effect of extraction time at 301C on the extraction efciency of volatile
compounds using DVB/CAR/PDMS bre.
B.T. Ong et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 21 (2008) 416422 418
Five cultivars of jackfruit were analysed to determine qualita-
tive and quantitative compositions of volatile compounds present
in the fruit. Thirty-seven compounds were extracted from the ve
different cultivars using the SPME method, including 20 esters,
ve alcohols, nine aldehydes, two ketones, and one ether (Table 1).
Using this method, 19 volatile compounds were detected in
jackfruit. Eighteen of the volatile compounds detected were
previously reported by Swords et al. (1978), Rasmussen (1983)
and Maia et al. (2004).
Among the 37 volatile compounds, which were mainly esters,
the combinations in volatile compounds as well as their
concentration were observed to be different in each cultivar
(Table 1). However, several of the volatile compounds detected
seemed to appear in all cultivars at relatively high concentrations.
These volatile compounds were ethyl isovalerate, 3-methylbutyl
acetate, 1-butanol, propyl isovalerate, isobutyl isovalerate,
2-methyl-1-butanol, and butyl isovalerate. Consistent occurrence
of these compounds in all cultivars of jackfruit suggested its
importance in contributing to the sweet and fruity note of
jackfruit.
Swords et al. (1978) detected butyl isovalerate, butyl butyrate,
isoamyl isovalerate, butyl acetate, isobutyl isovalerate and propyl
isovalerate in jackfruit distillates, and concluded that the mild
oral aroma of jackfruit was due to the predominance of esters
over aliphatic alcohols. The total absence of terpenoids was
considered a unique feature of jackfruit. Cunningham et al. (1985)
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 1
Volatile compounds and their avour descriptors of ve jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) cultivars
No Compounds Concentration (ppm) Odour descriptions
J31 J1 J6 J30 J3 J4
1 Acetaldehyde 0.117 0.119 0.129 0.114 0.108
2 Acetone ND ND ND 0.112 0.108 Light ethereal, nauseating, fruity
d
3 Methyl acetate 0.111 0.107 ND 0.106 ND Sweet, ethereal
d
4 Butanal 0.124 0.110 ND 0.159 0.109 Pungent irritating
d
5 Ethyl Acetate 0.125 0.109 0.112 0.109 0.109 Ethereal, banana-like, fruity
d
6 2-Methylbutanal ND ND 0.115 ND ND Cocoa-like, coffee-like
d
, buttery, oily
e
7 3-Methylbutanal 0.127 0.129 0.151 0.176 0.119 Pungent
f
, green, malty
g
, buttery, oily
e
8 Ethanol 0.120 0.117 0.165 0.116 0.131 Alcohol, mild
g
, sweet
d
9 n-Propyl acetate
a
0.154 0.109 0.109 0.114 0.111 Ethereal, pear-like, raspberry-like
d
10 2-Pentanone 0.109 ND ND 0.113 ND Sweet
d
, fruity, banana-like
g
11 Isobutyl acetate 0.137 ND ND 0.111 ND
12 Methyl isovalerate
a,b
0.132 0.133 0.363 0.388 0.231 Sweet, ethereal, apple-like, pineapple-like
d
13 Ethyl butanoate
a,b,c
0.108 0.123 0.127 0.107 0.117 Fruity, banana-, pineapple-like
h
14 Propyl propanoate i.s i.s i.s i.s i.s.
15 2-Methyl-3-(methylthio)-butane ND ND ND 0.171 ND
16 Ethyl 2-methylbutanoate
a
ND ND 0.174 ND ND Apple-like, fruity, green
h
17 Ethyl isovalerate
a,b,c
0.358 0.261 0.986 0.238 0.937 Fruit odour reminiscent to apple
i
, fruity, berry
j
18 Butyl acetate
a,b,c
0.988 0.241 ND 0.509 0.455
19 Hexanal 0.028 0.024 0.033 0.029 0.022
20 2-Methyl-1-propanol
b
ND 0.055 ND ND ND Pungent, acid, fruity
k
21 Tiglaldehyde ND 0.067 0.144 0.262 ND Pungent, green, ether, nutty, fruity
l
22 2-Methylbutyl acetate
a,c
3.692 ND ND ND ND Overripe fruit, sweet, banana-like, juicy fruit
d
23 3-Methylbutyl acetate
a,c
8.284 0.499 0.854 2.682 1.759 Fruity, pear-, banana-like
d
24 1-Butanol
b,c
0.721 0.359 0.395 0.513 0.429 Sweet
d
25 Propyl isovalerate
a,b,c
1.151 0.886 0.858 0.519 1.059 Fruity odour
i
26 Pentyl acetate ND ND ND 0.308 ND Banana oil, fruit pineapple-like
d
27 Methyl hexanoate i.s i.s i.s i.s i.s.
28 Isobutyl isovalerate
a,b,c
0.754 0.775 0.730 0.430 0.586 Sweet, fruity, apple, raspberry, green
k
29 2-Methyl-1-butanol
b
0.794 0.558 0.906 0.630 0.469 Butter, fusel oil-like
k
, sweet, valeric
d
30 3-Methyl-1-butanol
b,c
1.753 1.215 1.591 1.163 0.711 Fruity, alcohol,whiskey
g
, rancid, pungent
f
31 2-Hexenal ND ND ND 0.357 ND Grass-like, fruity, green
d
, apple-like
m
32 Butyl butanoate
a,b,c
ND ND ND ND 0.390 Pear-, pineapple-like
f
, fresh, sweet, fruity
d
33 Butyl isovalerate
a,b,c
1.958 1.081 0.712 0.581 1.163
34 Isoamyl butanoate
a,b
ND 0.073 0.069 ND ND Sweet, apricot-, banana-like, fruity, oral
d
35 Isoamyl isovalerate
a,c
ND 0.462 0.438 ND ND Sweet, fruity, fresh, ripe apple
k
36 Hexyl acetate
a,c
ND ND ND 0.042 ND Fruity, oral
d
, sweet, berry-, pear-like
h
37 n-Amyl isovalerate 1.166 0.503 ND 0.124 0.451
38 Benzaldehyde ND 0.045 0.157 ND 0.052 Strong, sweet, bitter almond, cherry
d
39 Benzenepropanal ND ND 0.131 ND ND
J31, J1, J6, J30 and J3 using DVB/CAR/PDMS ber.
ND not detected.
a
Maia et al. (2004).
b
Rasmussen (1983).
c
Swords et al. (1978).
d
Shibamoto and Tang (1990).
e
Akiyama et al. (2003).
f
Jorda n et al. (2001b).
g
Lecanu et al. (2002).
h
Takeoka et al. (1989).
i
Burdock (2002).
j
Marti et al. (2003).
k
Anon (2002).
l
Paillard (1990).
m
Kim et al. (2003b).
B.T. Ong et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 21 (2008) 416422 419
studied the aroma components in 40 cultivars of apple and found
that apple aroma was not the result of the same compounds in
every cultivar, although some common volatile compounds were
important in all cultivars.
Using PCA, volatile compounds detected can be grouped and
related statistically to each cultivar as shown in Fig. 3. Correlation
matrices were computed and three principal components (PC1,
PC2, and PC3) explained 88% of the total variance. Bi-plots (Figs. 3
and 4) revealed that PC1 and PC2 explained 41% and 27% of the
total variation. The volatile compounds detected were clearly
clustered into its ve jackfruit cultivars (cultivars J1, J31, J3, J6, and
J30) as shown in Fig. 3. Further evaluation of the cultivars avour
by sensorial descriptive analysis and olfatometric evaluation of
volatile compounds isolated by SPME method are recommended
and will enable deeper understanding of the characteristic aroma
that contribute to the avour of each jackfruit cultivar.
Propyl isovalerate, isobutyl isovalerate, isoamyl butanoate, and
isoamyl isovalerate, which lie in the negative region of PC1 and
positive region of PC2 were clustered together with cultivar J1.
These compounds were present at concentration of 0.886, 0.775,
0.073, and 0.462ppm, respectively, and were relatively higher
compared to the concentration in other cultivars. These com-
pounds are reported to produce an aroma which is sweet in
mixtures of apple-, banana- and raspberry-like fruity odour
(Swords et al., 1978; Rasmussen, 1983; Maia et al., 2004). Another
unique compound detected is 2-methyl-1-propanol (0.055ppm),
the odour of which according to Shibamoto and Tang (1990) as
pungent, acid and fruity.
Several other volatile compounds, which lie on the positive
regions of PC1 and PC2, were correlated with cultivar J31 (Fig. 3).
Methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, n-propyl acetate, 3-methylbutyl
acetate, 1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol were present at a
concentration of 0.111, 0.125, 0.154, 8.284, 0.721, and 1.753ppm,
respectively (Table 1). Their concentration in J31 was higher
compared to other cultivars. 3-Methylbutyl acetate was detected
in all the cultivars. The unique compound identied in cultivar J31
was 2-methylbutyl acetate at a concentration of 3.692ppm.
Higher concentrations of 3-methylbutyl acetate and 2-methylbu-
tyl acetate may contribute to a banana-like odour (Shibamoto and
Tang, 1990).
As shown in Fig. 3, both cultivars J3 and J6, and their
characteristic compounds were clustered together. Principal
component 3, which explained 20% of the total variance, clearly
differentiated cultivar J3 from cultivar J6 (Fig. 4). Ethyl isovalerate
(0.937ppm), ethyl butanoate (0.117ppm), butyl butanoate
(0.390ppm), and ethanol (0.131ppm) were clustered with cultivar
J3 at the positive region of PC3. These compounds have
been described as sweet and fruity with pineapple-like odour
(Shibamoto and Tang, 1990; Paillard, 1990). Occurrence of these
compounds was also reported in apples, pears, quinces (Paillard,
1990) and other tropical fruits (Shibamoto and Tang, 1990).
The cluster of volatile compounds for fruits of cultivar J6 was
located near the origin of PC3 and could not be explained.
However, with reference to Fig. 3 and Table 1, the volatile
compounds were: 2-methylbutanal (0.115ppm), ethyl 2-methyl-
butanoate (0.174ppm), and benzenepropanal (0.131ppm). These
compounds were identied in the cultivar, J6. The presence of
ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, which has an odour threshold of only
0.1ppb, may contribute to the fruity apple-like odour (Rowe,
2002). In Fig. 4, it can be clearly seen that compounds which
completely differentiated cultivar J6 from cultivar J3 were
benzaldehyde (0.157ppm) (Table 1) and propyl isovalerate.
Benzaldehyde was also detected in some of the cultivars but its
concentration in cultivar J6 was threefold higher. The occurrence
of 2-methylbutanal, benzenepropanal and benzaldehyde may
contribute to sharp, almond- and cocoa-like odour and when
present may produce an odour that may not be acceptable by
consumers (Shibamoto and Tang, 1990).
ARTICLE IN PRESS
-1.0
-0.5
0
0.5
1.0
1.0 0.5 0 -0.5 -1.0
J31
J1
J6 J30
J3
Acetal
Acetone
Met_ Acet
But_al
Et_Acet
2-Met-But_al
3-Met-But_al
Et_oh
n-Pro_acet
2-Pentanone
2-Met_pro_Acet
Met_3mb
Et_But
2-met-3-(methyl Et_2mb
Et_3mb
Butyl_Acet
Hex
2-met-1-Propano
E-2-Met-2-buten
2-Met_Butyl_Ace
3-Met_Butyl_Ace
1-Butanol
Propyl-3mb
Pentyl_Acet
2-MetPropyl-3mb
2-Met-1-Butanol
3-Met-1-Butanol
2-Hexenal
Butyl_But
Butyl-3mb
3-metbutyl_But
3-metbutyl-3mb
Hexyl_Acet
n-Amyl iso
Benzal
Benzenepropanal
PC1
t o l p - i B
P
C
2
Fig. 3. Bi-plots of principal components 1 and 2 of the volatile compounds of ve jackfruit cultivars. Acetal: acetaldehyde; acetone; Met_Acet: methyl acetate; But_al:
butanal; Et_Acet: ethyl acetate; 2-met_But_al: 2-methylbutanal; 3-Met-But_al: 3-methylbutanal; Et_oh: ethanol; n-Propyl_Acet: n-propyl acetate; 2-pentanone; Iso_Butyl
Ace: isobutyl acetate; Met_iso: methyl isovalerate; Et_But: ethyl butanoate; Propyl_propano: propyl propanoate; 2-met-3-(met_thio)-But: 2-methy-3-(methylthio)-butane;
E-2-Met_But: ethyl 2-methylbutanoate; Et_iso: ethyl isovalerate; Butyl_Ace: Butyl acetate; Hexanal; 2-met-1-propanol: 2-methyl-1-propanol; Tiglal: tiglaldehyde;
2-Met_Butyl_Ace: 2-methylbutyl acetate; 3-Met_Butyl_Ace: 3-methylbutyl acetate; 1-butanol; Propyl_iso: propyl isovalerate; Pentyl_Ace: pentyl acetate; Met_ hex: methyl
hexanoate; Iso_Butyl_iso: isobutyl isovalerate; 2-Met-1-Butanol: 2-methyl-1-butanol; 3-Met-2-Hex_al: 3-methyl-2-hexenal; Butyl_But: butyl butanoate; Butyl_iso: butyl
isovalerate; Iso_but: isoamyl butanoate; Isoamyl_iso: isoamyl isovalerate; Hex_Ace: hexyl acetate; n-Amyl iso: n-amyl isovalerate; Benzal: benzaldehyde; Benzenepropanal.
B.T. Ong et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 21 (2008) 416422 420
Finally, fruits of cultivar J30 (Fig. 3 and Table 1) contained
acetone (0.112ppm), butanal (0.159ppm), 3-methylbutanal
(0.176ppm), 2-pentanone (0.113ppm), methyl isovalerate
(0.388ppm), and tigaldehyde (0.262ppm). In addition, cultivar
J30 has four other unique compounds, namely 2-methyl-
3-(methylthio) butane (0.171ppm), pentyl acetate (0.308ppm),
2-hexenal (0.357ppm) and hexyl acetate (0.042ppm), which were
not found in other cultivars. A combination of these characteristic
compounds may indicate a avour note of fruity apple- and
pineapple-like odour along with strong, pungent, nauseating,
irritating, and green odour (Shibamoto and Tang, 1990; Paillard,
1990; Jordan et al., 2001a, b; Lecanu et al., 2002; Akiyama et al.,
2003; Kim et al., 2003b).
The volatile compounds clustered in both cultivars J1 and J31,
which lie on the positive region of PC2, are the most common
volatile compounds in jackfruit avour. On the other hand,
jackfruit avour of cultivars J3, J6, and J30 were located at the
negative region of PC2. A mixture of different combinations and
concentrations of volatile compounds is the main factor which
gives the unique avour of each cultivar tested.
4. Conclusion
SPME is a rapid extraction method with high reproducibility in
food avour analysis. TOFMS provided sufcient sensitivity and
speed to permit rapid and efcient detection of aroma volatiles.
Volatile compounds determined in this study were predominantly
esters and may respond to the unique avour and aroma of
jackfruit. Therefore, quantication of the concentration of volatile
compounds present plays an important role in determining the
effect of the compounds in the overall avour of the fruit in each
cultivar. Besides, each cultivar had its own unique compound
which differentiated them from one to another. Majority of the
volatile compounds which differentiated each cultivar were
present in higher concentration. PCA was found useful in grouping
the volatile compounds according to its cultivar.
Acknowledgement
Special thanks and gratitude to University Putra Malaysia for
providing the research Grant IRPA 01-02-04-0789 EA001 that
enable the authors to carry out the work.
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