Metabolome based volatiles profiling in 13 date palm fruit varieties from Egypt via SPME GC–MS and chemometrics

• SPME-GC–MS were adopted for the analysis of date palm fruit aromas.
• 108 volatiles were identified and grouped based on its biosynthetic origin.
• PCA, HCA and OPLS were used to classify between 13 fruit cultivars.
• Differences among varieties emanate from benzenoids and alcohols content.

Dates (Phoenix dactylifera L.) are distributed worldwide as major food complement providing a source of sugars and dietary fiber as well as macro- and micronutrients. Although phytochemical analyses of date fruit non-volatile metabolites have been reported, much less is known about the aroma given off by the fruit, which is critical for dissecting sensory properties and quality traits. Volatile constituents from 13 date varieties grown in Egypt were profiled using SPME-GCMS coupled to multivariate data analysis to explore date fruit aroma composition and investigate potential future uses by food industry. A total of 89 volatiles were identified where lipid-derived volatiles and phenylpropanoid derivatives were the major components of date fruit aroma. Multivariate data analyses revealed that 2,3-butanediol, hexanal, hexanol and cinnamaldehyde contributed the most to classification of different varieties. This study provides the most complete map of volatiles in Egyptian date fruit, with Siwi and Sheshi varieties exhibiting the most distinct aroma among studied date varieties.