Compositional and Isotopic Studies of Fruit Flavours. Part I. The Banana Aroma

Abstract The determination of the molecular composition and the 13 C content of some of the main constituents of the banana aroma by GC, GC‐MS and 13 C GC‐C‐IRMS was carried out on fruits, commercial nectars and industrial aromas. From the consideration of primary (i.e. isobutyl and isoamyl acetate) and secondary (i.e. pentan‐2‐one, isoamyl butyrate) metabolites, mass and isotopic balances can be defined which are good indicators of the nature of the fruit studied. Bananas from different geographical origins (Ivory Coast, Martinique, Central America) and harvested in different states of ripeness have characteristic fractionation patterns. It is also shown that commercial nectars have molecular and isotopic compositions similar to those of the volatile fraction of very mature fruits. Industrial aromas have particularly, typical 13 C composition, depending on whether they are natural or synthetic.