A comparison of volatile components of flower, leaf and peel of Citrus reticulata Blanco (Citrus nobilis Lour var. deliciosa swingle)

Abstract

The volatile flavor components of flower, leaf and peel of Citrus nobilis Lour var. deliciosa swingle were investigated in this study. Flower, leaf and peel flavor components were extracted using water distillation method and then eluted using n-hexane solvent. Then they were all analyzed by Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 39 flower components, 39 leaf components and 25 peel components including: aldehydes, alcohols, esters, ketons, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were identified and quantified. The major flavor components were linalool, limonene, sabinene, a-pinene, β-myrcene, terpinene-4-0l, (E)-βocimene and γ-terpinene. The flower oil showed the highest content of aldehydes and alcohols. Since the aldehyde content of citrus oil is considered as one of the most important indicators of high quality, organ apparently has a profound influence on citrus oil quality.