Abstract
To compare the difference of odor quality in peel oils of acid citrus, the essential oil was prepared by solution extraction from five kinds of acid citrus; Lemon (Citrus limone), Lime (Citrus aurantifolia), Sudachi (Citrus sudachi Hort. ex Shirai), Yuzu (Citrus junos Tanaka) and Kabosu (Citrus sphaerocarpa Tanaka). Each oil was separated into fractions of hydrocarbon and oxygenated compounds through a silica gel column, and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). As the volatiles, 72 components in Lemon, 76 components in Lime, 69 components in Sudachi, 71 components in Yuzu and 77 components in Kabosu were identified. As these oxygenated fractions had the characteristic aroma of the peel oils, odor quality of each fraction was estimated on the basis of a logarithmic odor unit value (log Uo). The components contri-buted to the aroma of the each peeI oil were selected. Then the similarity of odor quality among peel oils examined were estimated by sensory evaluation and multivariate analysis. These results lead to the conclusion that log Uo is the most useful index for evaluating odor quality.
