Volatile profile of mango (Mangifera indica L.), as affected by osmotic dehydration Juan Diego Torres a , Pau Talens a , Jose ´ Miguel Carot b , Amparo Chiralt a , Isabel Escriche a, * a Institute of Food Engineering for Development, Food Technology Department, Polytechnic University of Valencia, P.O. Box 46022 Valencia, Spain b Department of Statistic, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain Received 23 May 2005; received in revised form 3 January 2006; accepted 6 January 2006 Abstract The effect of osmotic dehydration on the volatile fraction of mango fruit was studied. Osmotic treatments were carried out at atmo- spheric pressure (OD) and by applying a vacuum pulse (PVOD). Sucrose at 35, 45, 55 and 65 °Brix was used as osmotic solution until reaching 20 or 30 °Brix in the liquid phase of dehydrated mango. Volatile compounds of fresh and dehydrated samples were obtained by simultaneous distillation–extraction, and analyzed by GC–MS. In general, osmotic dehydration provoked changes in the concentration of analyzed compounds to different extents, depending on process conditions. The use of highly concentrated osmotic solutions, and the high level of sample osmodehydration, induced losses of volatiles with respect to the fresh samples. On the other hand, more heavily diluted solutions and shorter treatment times (lower osmodehydration level) could give rise to the enhancement of volatile production. In these cases, sample mass loss was reduced during treatment since sugar gain was promoted against water loss. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Mangoes; Osmotic dehydration; GC–MS; Volatile compounds; Minimally processed fruit 1. Introduction Mango fruit is one of the most widely sold tropical fruits in Europe and its commercialization, as fresh cut fruit, is gaining importance in the market. However, fresh-cut fruits have a very short shelf life because of the difficulties in preserving their fresh-like quality (Soliva-Fortuny & Martın-Belloso, 2003). Minimally processed fruits are products that contain living tissues, which have suffered minor changes from their fresh state. Some studies have reported quality changes, which occurred in fresh cut prod- ucts, such as physiological and physicochemical alterations (Watada, Ko, & Minott, 1996) and specifically in fresh cut mango (Beaulieu & Lea, 2003). Some basic operations of minimal processing, such as peeling and slicing, induce quality changes due to the lesions produced in the tissue (Brecht, 1995; Watada et al., 1996) which, among other things, enhance enzyme activity (Yu & Yang, 1980) and provoke physiological changes (Balwin, Nisperos-Carri- edo, & Beaker, 1995), thus giving rise to a reduction in the shelf life of minimally processed fruits when compared to the whole pieces. An alternative for reducing the above-mentioned unde- sired changes could be the partial dehydration of the cut fruit by applying mild osmotic dehydration treatments, which slightly reduce the fruit water activity, thereby limiting the deteriorative process, especially in the more external cells, which dehydrate to a greater degree and can act as a barrier for the rest of the tissue (Tovar, Garcıa, & Mata, 2001b). Osmotic dehydration (OD) involves the immersion of fruit in concentrated sugar solutions, where both partial dehydration of the tissue and solid uptake take place. Mass transfer rates during OD depend on factors such as temper- ature, concentration of osmotic medium, size and geometry of the samples and degree of agitation of the solution. In the osmotic processes, application of vacuum for a short period at the beginning of the process (vacuum pulse 0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.01.020 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 963879146; fax: +34 963877369. E-mail address: iescrich@tal.upv.es (I. Escriche). www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem Food Chemistry 101 (2007) 219–228 Food Chemistry