title: PTR-TOF-MS analysis of volatile compounds in olive fruits.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Volatile compounds of Cellina di Nardò and Ogliarola Barese, two typical Italian olive varieties, have been characterised at different ripening stages. Proton transfer reaction-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS) was used for the first time on these fruits with the aim of characterising the volatile profile and, in the case of Ogliarola, the changes which may occur during the maturation process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PTR-TOF-MS does not involve any sample pre-treatment, and allows high-resolution measurements, large spectra and small fragmentation of the volatiles. Therefore it allows both compound identification and data statistical treatments. In the present work, about 40 compounds that contribute to the discrimination between samples of the two varieties have been identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Three groups of compounds were identified: (1) compounds that are typical of mature fruits of Ogliarola, (2) compounds that tend to decrease during the change from green to mature fruits, and (3) compounds that increase during the maturation process.
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze delle Produzioni Agroalimentari e dell'Ambiente (DISPAA), University of Florence, P.le delle Cascine 18, 50144, Florence, Italy.
authors: Elisa
authors: E
authors: Masi
authors: Annalisa
authors: A
authors: Romani
authors: Camilla
authors: C
authors: Pandolfi
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Heimler
authors: Stefano
authors: S
authors: Mancuso
mesh_terms: D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D031658:Olea / Q000737:chemistry*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Olea europaea; olive fruit; principal component analysis (PCA); proton transfer reaction-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS); volatile organic compounds (VOCs)