Studies on the Smell Producing Substances in Foul-smell Canned Satsuma Mandarin

Abstract

To investigate the origin of the slight foul-smell substances found in canned Satsuma Mandarin produced at Kyushu area on 1978, the n-pentane extracts of normal and foul-smelled cans were concentrated and analysed by using gas chromato-graphy and mass spectrometry. As the results, itwas found that 1-chlorobutane and chlorobenzene existed in the smelled can and they were unex-pectedly contained as impurities in hydrochloric acid which was used in a process of the removal of segment membranes of Satsuma Mandarin. From the sensory test of normal Satsuma Mandarin containing a very small amount of 1-chlorobutane and chlorobenzene, which produced the same smell as foul-smelled Satsuma Mandarin, they were thought to be the origin of the foul-smell.