Analysis of aromatic compounds in three melon cultivars(Cucumis melo L.) by solid phase microextracion with GC-MS

【Objective】To elucidate the characteristic aroma compounds of different melon cultivars.【Method】The ripened fruits were identified by combining headspace solid-phase microextraction(HS-SPME)with GC-MS method.【Result】The results showed that 92,58,54 kinds of compounds werefound from‘C51',‘C52'and‘Baiyumantang'respectively. Esters were their primary components.Among them 10 kinds of common compounds were detected,such as acetic acid butyl ester,1-butanol2-methyl-acetate,acetic acid hexyl ester,3-hexen-1-ol acetate,acetic acid octyl ester,2,3-butane-dioldiacetate,acetic acid phenyl methyl ester,phenyl ethyl alcohol,6,10-dimethyl-5,9-undecadien-2-one,tridecane. The relative content of acetic acid phenyl methyl ester was the highest. The cultivars‘C51'and‘C52'both had propanoic acid 2-methylpropyl ester,butanoic acid 2-methylpropyl ester,acetic acid heptyl ester,3-octen-1-ol acetate,2-pentanol propanoate,2,4-nonadien-1-ol,2,6-nonadienal,3,5-octadiene. Acetic acid 2-chloro-phenylethyl ester,propanoic acid 2-methyl-3-phenylpro-pyl ester were identified only in‘C51',their relative content accounted for 16.58%,2.09% respectively.The content of 2,4-Nonadien-1-ol,3-Nonen-1-ol,2,6-Nonadienal reached up to 2.57%,3.14%and4.29% respectively in‘C52',which could be its characteristic aroma constituents. The sulfur compoundsin‘Baiyumangtang'were far more than in‘C51'and‘C52'. Ethyl(methylthio)acetate,methyl 2-(me-thylthio)acetate,3-(methylthio)propanoic acid ethyl ester,methyl thiirane,allyl methyl sulfide werethe unique constituents of‘Baiyumantang',which accounted for 9.02% of the total aroma content,andmethyl thiirane and allyl methyl sulfide have not been reported in other melons,so they could be the char-acteristic constituents of“baiyumantang”.【Conclusion】The climacteric melon was rich in aroma. Thecharacteristic aroma compounds were different among different types of melon.