Headspace volatolome of peel flours from citrus fruits grown in Brazil

Citrus fruit peel comprises a pleasant mix of volatile compounds together with fibers, nutrients, and bioactive compounds. Therefore, it has great potential for use as a food ingredient. Studies evaluating the volatile composition of citrus peel flours are limited for most citruses. The goal of this study was to characterize, by HS-SPME/GC-MS, the volatile profile of citrus peel flours made from fruits commonly grown in Brazil. Two composite samples of ten types of citrus peel flours from consecutive harvests were evaluated. 69 volatile compounds were assigned, 49 in Tahiti acid lime, 49 in Sicilian lemon, 37 in Persian lime, 34 in Italian tangerine and oval kumquat, 33 in Valencia orange, 32 in Baia orange and round kumquat, 28 in Blood-of-Mombuca orange and 26 in Lima orange. 26 major compounds represented 93-99% of the total chromatogram peak area. Terpenic compounds were predominant in all samples, especially monoterpenes (about 48-97% of the total chromatogram peak area), while lower proportions of aldehydes (0.2-16.1%), monoterpene alcohols (0.4-11.8%) and esters (0.0-7.7%) were observed. Even though a few compounds like limonene, β-myrcene, linalool, α-pinene and valencene were detected in all citrus, volatile compounds followed specific patterns in the different citruses, with a clear distinction among them, especially between lemon flours and the remaining flours. The variety of volatile profiles and singular specific volatolomic signatures in citrus peels can be explored for different applications related to food flavoring and preservation, and promotion of good health. These aspects should be thoroughly investigated in future studies.