Variability in Aromatic Composition of Different Fruit Parts of Pseudospondias microcarpa (A. Rich) Engl from Congo

Abstract

Pseudospondias microcarpa is a tree belonging to the Anacardiaceae family. It produces a red or blackish blue fruit when ripe. This fruit is highly appreciated by the rural population of the Congo for its sweet smell as well as its sweet and tangy taste. Essential oils from epicarp, hull, kernel, and seed obtained by hydrodistillation were analysed by capillary gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and flame ionization detection. A total of sixty-three compounds were identified as hydrocarbon and oxygenated monoterpenes, hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpenes, and nonterpenic derivatives. The main compounds depend on the part of the fruit: α-terpineol and borneol for the epicarp (22.9 % and 8.2 %), vaccenic acid and ascorbic acid 2,6-dihexadecanoate for the hull (20.1 % and 29.8 %), caryophyllene oxide and α-humulene for the seed (8.4 % and 6.8 %), α-humulene and β-caryophyllene for the kernel (9.4 % and 6.4 %). The presence of 2,6-dihexadecanoate ascorbic acid may partly justify the tart taste of this fruit.

Keywords:

• Pseudospondias microcarpa
• essential oil
• hydrodistillation
• aromatic compounds
• Congo