Chemical and aroma profiles of yuzu (Citrus junos) peel oils of different cultivars

The essential oils of six different yuzu cultivars, Kumon (KUM), Nagano (NAG), Yasu (YAS), Jimoto (JIM), Komatsu Sadao (KOS) and Komatsu Koichi (KOK), were extracted by cold-pressing method. A total of 69 compounds of the six samples were identified. Application of GC-olfactometry and aroma extraction dilution analysis technique in three-fold stepwise dilution of the neat oil for all samples indicated eight odourants with the highest flavour dilution (FD) values. Those were limonene, α-pinene, α- and β-phellandrene, myrcene, γ-terpinene, (E)-β-farnesene and linalool. ‘KOS’ was differentiated from the other oil samples by showing the highest number of components having yuzu-like odour notes and also from the PCA analysis of the FD-factor values. This is the first time the aroma characteristics of yuzu essential oils of specified cultivars were investigated.