Volatile profile of Spanish-style green table olives prepared from different cultivars grown at different locations

• More than 100 headspace compounds were identified in Spanish-style green table olives.
• Headspace profile of product was predominated by alcohols and phenols.
• PCA discriminated samples according to olive cultivar.

The volatile profiles of Spanish-style green table olives elaborated with Manzanilla, Gordal and Hojiblanca cultivars grown at different locations in Spain were established by solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS). A total of 102 volatile compounds were identified, belonging to distinct chemical classes, and 20 of them are reported for the first time in table olives. The headspace profile was predominated by alcohols and phenols, followed by acids and esters, whereas the relative amounts of the remaining classes were quite lower (< 5% in general). The principal compounds characterizing the headspace for most samples were p-creosol, phenylethyl alcohol, acetic acid, ethanol, benzyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol. Significant differences in the proportions of volatile compounds between samples from the Gordal cultivar and those from Manzanilla and Hojiblanca cultivars were detected and statistically visualized by principal component analysis (PCA). Among all the identified compounds, only (E)-2-decenal showed significant differences between the three cultivars without being significantly affected by locations where the fruits were grown.

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