Volatile Compounds of New Promising Dried Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Genotypes

Turkey has rich wild apricot populations and all Turkish apricot cultivars were previously selected among wild apricots. On this background for apricot breeding, six new late flowering dried apricot genotypes were taken under study, along with wide spread cv. 'Hacihaliloglu'; all genotypes were examined in terms of volatile compounds using Headspace-Solid Phase Micro Extraction - Mass Spectrometry (HSSPME/GC/MS) techniques. The most important volatiles of apricot genotypes were aldehydes, alcohols, esters, terpenes, ketones and acids. Among these compounds, ethanol, hexanal, 3-carene, squalene, acetic acid, tetradecaonic acid, pentadecaonic acid, octadecaonic acid, n- hexadecaonic acid and 1-hdroxy-2-propanone were present in all genotypes studied at certain levels. In general, total concentrations of aroma compounds were higher in some promising genotypes under study than within 'Hacihaliloglu' cultivar, except total alcohol compound (53.33%). Volatile compounds, particularly esters, were the major contributors to fruity, floral and pleasant fruit flavours. The highest esters' compound contents were detected in 'N95' (9.2%) and 'N57' (2.18%) genotypes, while 'Hacihaliloglu' had 1.61% ester compounds. Lacton (γ-decalactone) was a key aroma compound of apricot. γ-decalactone was detected ranging between 0.4-1.13% in all genotypes, except cv. 'Hacihaliloglu'. The hereby obtained results showed that the volatile composition depended largely upon the apricot genotypes, moment of harvest, growing conditions and cultural applications that may all affect fruit quality. These results represent valuable starting points for apricot breeding programs.