Aroma character impact compounds in Kinokuni mandarin orange (Citrus kinokuni) compared with Satsuma mandarin orange (Citrus unshiu).

The odor-active volatiles of Kinokuni mandarin (Citrus kinokuni Hort. ex Tanaka), an original mandarin orange in Japan, were characterized by a combination of instrumental and sensory analyses and compared with those of Satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marcovitch). An aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) of the polar fractions of Kinokuni and Satsuma mandarin peel oils identified five odorants in common as the most odor-active volatiles: (Z)-hex-3-enal, decanal, linalool, yuzuol, and (2E)-trans-4,5-epoxydec-2-enal. In addition, seven odorants were identified solely in Kinokuni mandarin as significant contributors: octanal, dodecanal, (2E,4E)-deca-2,4-dienal, geraniol, yuzunone, (2E,7Z)-trans-4,5-epoxydeca-2,7-dienal, and thymol. The odor-active volatiles in both the non-polar components of the peel oil and an extract of the juice prepared from Kinokuni mandarin were also identified. The (S)-isomer of linalool in Kinokuni mandarin peel oil was dominant in the enantiomeric distribution (92%), whereas the (R)-isomer was dominant in Satsuma mandarin peel oil (90%).