Volatile sulfur compounds in tropical fruits

Abstract

Global production and demand for tropical fruits continues to grow each year as consumers are enticed by the exotic flavors and potential health benefits that these fruits possess. Volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) are often responsible for the juicy, fresh aroma of tropical fruits. This poses a challenge for analytical chemists to identify these compounds as most often VSCs are found at low concentrations in most tropical fruits. The aim of this review is to discuss the extraction methods, enrichment techniques, and instrumentation utilized to identify and quantify VSCs in natural products. This will be followed by a discussion of the VSCs reported in tropical and subtropical fruits, with particular attention to the odor and taste attributes of each compound. Finally, the biogenesis and enzymatic formation of specific VSCs in tropical fruits will be highlighted along with the contribution each possesses to the aroma of their respective fruit.

Profiling Volatile Constituents of Homemade Preserved Foods Prepared in Early 1950s South Dakota (USA) Using Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) with Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Determination

“…Reports of nitrogen-containing volatiles in preserved foods are limited, but are presumed to be driven by Maillard reactions between amino acids and sugar alcohols during preparation, and other degradative reactions involving amines, amino acids, peptides, and alkaloids thereafter. Sulfur compounds were minor constituents of only a few preserves (detected in apricots, sweet pickle, tomato), and were tentatively identified as sulfurous acid esters and alkyl sulfides, consistent with sulfur compounds reported in sweet, tangy, and savory foods [35].…”

Analysis of Volatile Compounds in Pears by HS-SPME-GC×GC-TOFMS

“…Sulfur-containing compounds, ethyl 3-(methylsulfanyl)propanoate, 3-(methylthio)propyl acetate and ethyl 3-(methylthio)-( E )-2-propenoate were also detected in this study. Sulfur-containing compounds have been reported to have originated from methionine and cysteine [3] and provided the juicy, fresh aroma to many fruits [23]. Methyl ( E , Z )-2,4-decadienoate and ethyl ( E , Z )-2,4-decadienoate are two esters that have a pear-like smell and are major volatile compounds existed in Bartlett [10] and Beurre Bosc [3].…”

Spotlight on release mechanisms of volatile thiols in beverages

“…In fact, these bacteria could catalyse the enzymatic release of hydrogen sulphide and methanethiol from cysteine or methionine respectively (Robert J. Cannon & Ho, 2018), which can be extended to all thiols in durian presented in Table 1.…”