Classification of juices and fermented beverages made from unripe, ripe and senescent apples based on the aromatic profile using chemometrics

• The ripening stage influenced the aromatic profile of apple products.
• Ethanal content increased with the maturation of the raw material.
• 3-Methyl-butanol has the highest concentration in all alcoholic beverages.
• Senescent fruits are recommended to produce an aromatic fermented apple beverage.
• Ripe Gala and senescent Lisgala are recommended for aromatic fresh apple juice.

The aim of this study was to assess differences between apple juices and fermented apple beverages elaborated with fruits from different varieties and at different ripening stages in the aroma profile by using chemometrics. Ripening influenced the aroma composition of the apple juice and fermented apple. For all varieties, senescent fruits provided more aromatic fermented apple beverages. However, no significant difference was noticed in samples made of senescent or ripe fruits of the Lisgala variety. Regarding the juices, ripe Gala apple had the highest total aroma concentration. Ethanal was the major compound identified in all the samples, with values between 11.83 mg/L (unripe Lisgala juice) and 81.05 mg/L (ripe Gala juice). 3-Methyl-1-butanol was the major compound identified in the fermented juices. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied and classified the juices and fermented juices based on physicochemical and aroma profile, demonstrating their applicability as tools to monitor the quality of apple-based products.