VOCs Analysis of Three Different Cultivars of Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus L.) Whole Dietary Fiber

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 27; no. 24; p. 8747
• Main Authors: Maletti, Laura, D'Eusanio, Veronica, Durante, Caterina, Marchetti, Andrea, Tassi, Lorenzo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Agribusiness; Agricultural production; Alcohol; Aldehydes; Aldehydes - analysis; Analysis; Aroma; Citrullus - chemistry; Citrullus lanatus; Consumers; Consumption; Cultivars; Dietary fiber; Dietary Fiber - analysis; dietary fibers; Esters; Fatty acids; Fibers; Food; Food production; food waste; Fruit - chemistry; Fruits; Gas chromatography; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - methods; Headspace; HS-SPME-GC-MS; Insulin resistance; Lycopene; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Metabolism; Metabolites; Polyphenols; Raw materials; recycle; Solid phase methods; Solid Phase Microextraction - methods; Solid phases; VOCs; volatile compounds; Volatile organic compounds; Volatile Organic Compounds - analysis; Water melons; watermelon; Italy; biorefinery; nutrients recovery; HS-SPME-GC-MS; recycle; volatile compounds; watermelon; dietary fibers; food waste
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27248747

In this study, the trend of VOCs of dietary fiber samples, coming from three different watermelon cultivars L. (variety , and ) was investigated. This foodstuff, obtained as a by-product of residual agri-food production, has gained increasing attention because of its many bioactive components and high dietary fiber content. The result is a fibrous material for specific applications in food manufacturing, such as corrector for some functional and technological properties. In this study, a method based on headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to characterize the aromatic profiles of the dried raw materials. Therefore, the VOCs of the samples of the three cultivars were investigated. Experimental results have shown that watermelon fibers generate VOCs, which can be grouped into six common classes of analytes. The different distributions of the identified compounds made it possible to effectively differentiate the three cultivars studied based on their peculiar aroma profiles. In particular, fiber is distinguished by the high content of terpenes, by the presence of aldehydes generated as fatty acid metabolites, and by the higher content of acetyl esters.