Aroma volatiles of pequi fruit (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.)

The aroma volatiles of Caryocar brasiliense, the “pequi” fruit, were analyzed by GC and GC–MS. It is rich on vitamins, lipids and proteins and an edible fruit after cooking. The “pequi” flavor has been used to aromatize many foods eaten up in the Central West and South Eastern of Brazil. The ethyl esters prevailed in the aroma concentrate of “pequi” followed by other analogous esters, saturated fatty acids and long chain hydrocarbons. The major component was ethyl hexanoate (52.9%) followed of minor amounts of ethyl octanoate (4.6%), tetrahydrofurfurylalcohol (4.3%), ethyl butanoate (4.1%), butyl palmitate (3.7%), isobutyl stearate (2.6%) and 3-methylvaleric acid (2.6%). The fatty acids and their derivatives varied from C-8 (caprylic acid and ethyl octanoate) to C-18 (stearyl acetate and isobutyl stearate). The existing homologous series of hydrocarbons ranged from C-11 (undecane) to C-26 (hexacosane).