Volatile compounds in foods are a significant factor that affects food intake and preference. However, volatile components in edible oils are poorly understood due to a strong matrix effect. In this study, we developed a method of extracting volatile compounds from extra virgin coconut oil (EVCO) by means of oiling-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction (OA-LLE). Consequently, 44 aroma compounds were isolated and identified from only 5 g of EVCO. Various aroma compounds were detected in addition to δ-lactones. The ratio of the natural abundance of the enantiomers of δ-lactones in EVCO was also revealed. Compared with the conventional methods of solvent assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) and head-space solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME), OA-LLE was able to isolate a wide range and large number of volatile compounds from EVCO without leaving oil residues. Therefore, isolating aroma compounds from edible oil based on the oiling-out effect should provide an innovative extraction method.

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Volatile compounds in food play a crucial role in affecting food quality and consumer preference, but the volatile compounds in olive oil are not fully understood due to the matrix effect of oil. The oiling-out assisted liquid–liquid extraction (OA-LLE), which we previously reported, is an effective method for isolating volatile compounds from edible oils with a strong matrix effect. However, when we apply OA-LLE to extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), the aromatic extracts contain non-volatile compounds such as pigments because of solvent-based extraction. Solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) can remove such non-volatiles from extracts, but SAFE is affected by a matrix effect during distillation, resulting in a decrease in performance. By combining the advantages of OA-LLE and SAFE, we propose an effective approach, OA-LLE followed by SAFE (OA-LLE + SAFE), for extracting aroma compounds from EVOO. The “two assists” should help to better understand the native aroma profile of EVOO.