VOLATILE FLAVOR COMPONENTS OF BELI FRUIT (AEGLE-MARMELOS) AND A PROCESSED PRODUCT

Representative samples of the aroma volatiles of beli, a tropical fruit, and a canned, processed product (beli cream or puree) were obtained by established procedures. Components of the essences were identified as far as possible by GC-MS [gas chromatography-mass spectrometry]. The major aroma component of the fruit was cis-linalool oxide which constituted about 1/3 of the total volatiles. Other important aroma compounds included alcohols and esters (saturated and unsaturated), mototerpenes and sesquiterpenes. .alpha.-Phellandrene was the one compound described as having typical beli aroma on odor evaluation at an odor port during GC. Beli cream produced a larger total quantity of volatiles than the fruit (about 10 times) and a broader spectrum of mono- and sesquiterpenes and it was lacking in a few important components. Overripe fruit contained much lesser amounts of linalool oxides and linalool and probably would not be suitable for processing purposes.