Principal components analysis of flavor compositions in Zizyphus jujube

The head space-solid phase micro extraction method was used to extract the flavor compositions from six varieties of Zizyphus jujuba. The extracted flavor compositions were analyzed by gas chromagraphymass spectrometry method. And principal component analysis and correlation analysis was adopted to investigate their flavor compositions. The results indicated that the number of flavor compositions identified in them was 34 that including acids(12 kinds),esters(2 kinds),hydrocarbons(6 kinds),alcohols(2 kinds),aldehydes( 3 kinds), aromatic( 4 kinds) and other compounds( 3 kinds). The difference of these flavor compositions resulted in the unique flavor characteristics of different Zizyphus jujuba varieties. The quality of flavor compositions of Zizyphus jujube was comprehensively evaluated sensory evaluation. The result showed the consistency of principal components analysis and sensory evaluation. Therefore,the principal components analysis could be regarded as one potential method to evaluate the aroma quality of Zizyphus jujube.