Volatile compounds with characteristic aroma of boiled sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. cv Ayamurasaki, I. batatas L. cv Beniazuma and I. batatas L. cv Simon 1)

Abstract

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a tuberous root crop that is extensively cultivated in the tropical regions. When baked, it has a characteristic odor. To be able to identify the odor-active compounds, aroma extraction dilution analysis (AEDA) was performed with gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O) method. The odor activity value was performed in order to determine the relative contribution of each compound to the odor of the sweet potatoes. The result indicated that a total of seventy-five compounds from Ipomoea batatas L. Cv Ayamurasaki, Beniazuma and Simon 1 were identified by GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), which accounted for 91.6%, 84.1% and 87.7%, respectively. The main components of volatile oil from Ayamurasaki were hexadecanoic acid (22.4%), phenylacetaldehyde (10.2%), guaiacol (3.9%) and p-vinylguaiacol (3.8%). Eighteen odor-active compounds were identified, including phenylacetaldehyde (floral odor), maltol (sweet odor) and methional (potato odor). Characteristic aroma from two other kinds of sweet potatoes (Beniazuma and Simon 1) were investigated.

Keywords:

• Ipomoea batatas L. cv Ayamurasaki
• GC–MS
• GC–MS/O
• aroma extraction dilution analysis (AEDA)

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 24658055).