Table 1.
Aroma-active compounds in wild lowbush blueberry fruit from the provinces of Nova Scotia (NS), Prince Edward Island (PE), New Brunswick (NB) and Quebec (QC) identified through gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and ranked by average modified frequency (MF) values 1.
| Compound | RI | MF Value (%) | Aroma Descriptors 2 | ID Basis 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NS | PE | NB | QC | Ave | ||||
| Ethyl 2-methylbutanoate/3-Hexanone | 1052 | 70.6 | 56.6 | 79.2 | 74.0 | 70.1 | Fruity (30) 4, Sweet (30), Blueberry (17), Floral (10), Citrus (4) | RI, Std, AD, MS/ RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Methyl 2-methylbutanoate | 1012 | 72.1 | 59.6 | 73.0 | 67.1 | 68.0 | Sweet (32), Fruity (21), Blueberry (15), Floral (12), Caramel (8) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Methyl 3-methylbutanoate | 1022 | 64.5 | 60.3 | 49.3 | 66.1 | 60.1 | Fruity (15), Sweet (14), Rancid-cheesy (12), Pungent, sharp (10), Blueberry (8) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Ethyl 3-methylbutanoate | 1066 | 48.1 | 43.7 | 58.4 | 54.2 | 51.1 | Fruity (19), Sweet (18), Blueberry (11), Floral (9), Herb-like (3), Pungent-sharp (3), Rancid-cheesy (3) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Ethyl propanoate | 951 | 53.7 | 47.3 | 49.9 | 55.1 | 51.5 | Citrus (13), Green-grassy (11), Sweet (8), Chemical (6), Fruity (6), Floral (6) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| (E)-2-Hexen-1-ol | 1401 | 57.5 | 39.5 | 44.7 | 61.1 | 50.7 | Rancid-cheesy (19), Sulfury (13), Earthy-musty (9), Pungent-sharp (8), Roasted-nutty (8) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| (Z)-3-Hexen-1-ol | 1378 | 52.5 | 46.9 | 52.3 | 47.3 | 49.8 | Green-grassy (18), Rancid-cheesy (10), Earthy-musty (9), Herb-like (8), Sweet (5) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| 1-Octen-3-one/Methyl 2-pentenoate 5 | 1303 | 64.5 | 30.1 | 51.6 | 49.9 | 49.0 | Earthy-musty (18), Rancid-cheesy (9), Herb-like (9), Pungent-sharp (8), Fruity (5) | RI, Std, AD, MS/ RI, AD, MS |
| 2-Dodecanone | 1719 | 48.4 | 48.4 | 42.9 | 54.2 | 48.5 | Floral (16), Fruity (10), Herb-like (10), Citrus (10), Sweet (9) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Ethyl 2-methylpropanoate | 970 | 51.4 | 29.4 | 49.5 | 60.2 | 47.6 | Sweet (23), Fruity (15), Floral (8), Citrus (6), Blueberry (4) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Linalool | 1531 | 51.4 | 36.9 | 46.5 | 47.3 | 45.5 | Floral (22), Sweet (19), Fruity (11), Herb-like (6), Blueberry (6) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Geraniol | 1827 | 63.2 | 0.0 | 45.0 | 65.4 | 43.4 | Floral (18), Sweet (10), Citrus (6), Fruity (5), Blueberry (5) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol | 1504 | 44.2 | 23.1 | 35.8 | 59.9 | 40.7 | Sweet (11), Floral (10), Herb-like (10), Citrus (9), Green-grassy (8) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Unknown 786 | 786 | 40.0 | 29.7 | 39.0 | 46.2 | 38.7 | Rancid-cheesy (18), Earthy-musty (8), Pungent-sharp (4), Blueberry (3), Floral (3), Herb-like (3) | |
| (E)-2-Hexenal | 1226 | 20.7 | 51.4 | 21.9 | 48.4 | 35.6 | Floral (10), Sweet (7), Fruity (5), Green-grassy (4), Herb-like (4), Roasted-nutty (4) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| 1-Penten-3-one | 1031 | 25.3 | 37.9 | 27.1 | 46.2 | 34.1 | Rancid-cheesy (9), Earthy-musty (5), Floral (3), Green-grass (3), Herb-like (3), Pungent-sharp (3) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Hexanal | 1087 | 32.7 | 31.0 | 20.7 | 48.1 | 33.1 | Green-grassy (20), Herb-like (6), Blueberry (2), Earthy-musty (2), Roasted-nutty (2), Fruity (2) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| 1-Pentanol | 1245 | 32.7 | 30.6 | 21.9 | 47.1 | 33.1 | Citrus (4), Roasted-nutty (3), Fruity (3), Rancid-cheesy (3), Pungent-sharp (3), Floral (3) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| Methyl 3-methyl-2-butenoate | 1175 | 38.6 | 24.2 | 25.3 | 37.9 | 31.5 | Sweet (12), Fruity (11), Herb-like (5), Blueberry (3), Floral (3), Caramel (3) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| 1-Hexanol | 1345 | 33.5 | 23.1 | 28.3 | 37.4 | 30.6 | Fruity (11), Sweet (10), Floral (4), Blueberry (4), Carmel (2) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| (Z)-3-Hexenal | 1149 | 25.8 | 37.4 | 27.1 | 30.6 | 30.2 | Green-grassy (13), Herb-like (6), Rancid-cheesy (4), Fruity (3), Floral (3) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| 3-Heptanone | 1152 | 23.1 | 0.0 | 49.4 | 35.8 | 27.1 | Green-grassy (14), Earthy-musty (7), Floral (4), Herb-like (3), Fruity (2), Roasted-nutty (2) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
| (E)-2-Nonenal | 1541 | 42.2 | 31.0 | 0.0 | 34.6 | 26.9 | Earthy-musty (8), Roasted-nutty (6), Rancid-cheesy (5), Sweet (4), Fruity (3) | RI, Std, AD, MS |
1 Values for each province are the average of fifteen GC-O analyses conducted on fruit from three commercial lowbush fields by five evaluators for each sample. Compounds presented had average MF values > 25%. 2 The five most frequent descriptors. 3 RI, retention index; Std, standard; AD aroma description; MS mass spectrum (See Table 2 for RI reference comparisons and MS similarity values). 4 Frequency of descriptor chosen by GC-O panelists. 5 Tentative identification.