Influence of maturity age on volatile aroma profile of coconut water from Tall variety

Abstract

Importance of the work: The Tall coconut variety is commonly used by the coconut-based industry; thus, characteristic profiling of its coconut water is important.
Objectives: To determine the effect of maturity age on the characteristics and volatile aroma compounds of coconut water from the Tall variety.
Materials & Methods: Coconut water samples were collected of maturity aged 6–9 mth from Tall variety palms. The total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity and color values were determined. Extraction of aroma compounds was performed using solvent extraction and headspace-solid phase microextraction. The extracts were analyzed using gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry.
Results: There were no significant (p ≥ 0.05) differences among samples for total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity and color values. In terms of the volatile aroma compounds, all samples contained alcohols, ketones and lactones, as well as several aldehydes, thiols and esters. Potential key volatile aroma compounds detected in the Tall coconut water maturity aged 6–9 mth were acetoin and 1-butanol, which had odor activity values > 1.0. Coconut water from younger maturity ages had a higher presence of alcohols (winey, fruity and sweet aromas) and lactones (coconut-like, creamy and sweet aromas), while the water of more mature coconut fruits contained higher amounts of acetoin (buttery, yogurt-like and creamy aromas) and thiols (sulfury, savory and soup-like aromas).
Main finding: The profiles of volatile aroma compounds could be used to categorize Tall variety coconut water based on its maturity age. Therefore, utilization of coconut water can be determined depending on the desired aroma profile of the final product.