A comparison of aroma components of pineapple fruits ripened in different seasons

Shenwan cultivar of pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr.) is an important tropical fruit of Guangdong China which is excellent in quality with strong fragrance. The aim of this study was to compare the aroma components among pineapple fruits ripened in different seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) by GC-MS. The results showed that there was diversity among the aroma components of pineapple fruits ripened in the four corresponding seasons. Ten kinds of aroma components were detected in spring fruits, including four unique components. The predominant were hexanoic acid methyl ester, 1,3,7-octatriene-3,7-dimethyl and octanoic acid methyl ester with relative content of 38.94, 26.32 and10.34%, respectively. Nineteen kinds of aroma components were detected in summer fruits, including ten unique components. The predominant were butanoic acid 2-methyl-methylester, hexanoic acid methyl ester, and 2-hydroxy-N-(2-morpholinoethyl)-4-phenylbutanamide with relative content of 24.95, 24.69 and 9.60%. Eleven kinds of aroma components were detected in autumn fruits, including three unique components. The predominant were hexanoic acid methyl ester, butanoic acid 2-methyl-methyl ester andbutyric acid methyl ester with relative content of 57.67, 18.52 and 8.76%. Twelve kinds of aroma components were detected in winter fruits, including four unique components. The predominant were hexanoic acid methyl ester, octanoic acid methyl ester and cis-ocimenewith relative content of 63.08, 15.82 and 7.78%. The relative contents of methyl 3-(methylthio)-propanpate in the four corresponding fruits were 0.89, 4.09, 0.45 and 0.99%, respectively.     Key words: Pineapple, aroma components, fruits ripened in different seasons