Characterization of the Volatile Profile of Cultivated and Wild-Type Italian Celery (Apium graveolens L.) Varieties by HS-SPME/GC-MS

Abstract

Celery (Apium graveolens L.) is a vegetable belonging to the Apiaceae family that is widely used for its distinct flavor and contains a variety of bioactive metabolites with healthy properties. Some celery ecotypes cultivated in specific territories of Italy have recently attracted the attention of consumers and scientists because of their peculiar sensorial and nutritional properties. In this work, the volatile profiles of white celery “Sedano Bianco di Sperlonga” Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) ecotype, black celery “Sedano Nero di Torricella Peligna” and wild-type celery were investigated using head-space solid-phase microextraction combined with gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) and compared to that of the common ribbed celery. Exploratory multivariate statistical analyses were conducted using principal component analysis (PCA) on HS-SPME/GC-MS patterns, separately collected from celery leaves and petioles, to assess similarity/dissimilarity in the flavor composition of the investigated varieties. PCA revealed a clear differentiation of wild-type celery from the cultivated varieties. Among the cultivated varieties, black celery “Sedano Nero di Torricella Peligna” exhibited a significantly different composition in volatile profile in both leaves and petioles compared to the white celery and the prevalent commercial variety. The chemical components of aroma, potentially useful for the classification of celery according to the variety/origin, were identified.

Consumer Acceptability and Sensory Profile of Three New Celery (Apium graveolens) Hybrids and Their Parental Genotypes

“…Genotype 12 displayed the highest abundance of phthalide compounds (Table 1) including sedanenolide and 3-n-butylphthalide followed by hybrids 12x22 and 22x12 that also displayed a high abundance of phthalides within their aroma profile. As these compounds consist of strong celery odour notes [8], we can assume these celeries consist of a typical celery flavour.…”

“…Within cuisines, celery is known to form part of the holy trinity or soffritto [3], starring alongside carrots and onions or onions and bell peppers depending on the cuisine. Celery owes its culinary diversity to the distinct aroma and flavour profile, possessing a range of compound groups including terpenes (monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes), alcohols, aldehydes and phthalides contributing to the overall flavour quality of celery [3][4][5][6][7][8]. The phthalide compounds have been established as the characteristic odorants of celery, with odour descriptors such as 'celery', 'cooked celery' and 'herbal'.…”

Characterization of the Volatile Profiles of Insect Flours by (HS)-SPME/GC-MS: A Preliminary Study

“…The most used analytical technique to evaluate the flavor of edible insects is headspace solid-phase microextraction, (HS)-SPME combined with gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry detection (GC-MS) [ 10 ]. SPME either in the head space mode or in other modes, is extremely widespread and increasingly used in the characterization of a wide variety of food matrices [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Green Chemometric-Assisted Characterization of Common and Black Varieties of Celery

“…In 2021, Reale and collaborators [ 7 ] investigated the volatile composition of two Italian celery ecotypes: the Sperlonga White and the Torricella Peligna Black, by means of head-space solid-phase microextraction combined with gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) to evaluate resemblance/differences among the volatilome of these species and the commercial ones. The volatile compound composition thus obtained (both on the leaves and on the petioles), was then analyzed using an exploratory method.…”