Comparative Volatilomic Profile of Three Finger Lime (Citrus australasica) Cultivars Based on Chemometrics Analysis of HS-SPME/GC-MS Data.

Finger lime is receiving growing attention as an ingredient of gastronomic preparations ofhaute cuisine for its delicious flavor and fragrance and for its appealing aspect. Volatile compoundsplay a crucial role in determining the organoleptic characteristics of the fruit and its pleasantness forconsumers. The aim of the present study was to investigate the volatile profiles by headspace solidphase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) inthe peel and, for the first time, in the pulp of three Australian finger lime cultivars grown in Sicily(southern Italy): Pink Pearl, Sanguinea, and Faustrime, allowing to overall identify 84 volatile organiccompounds (VOCs). The analytical data showed that the three cultivars were characterized bydistinct volatile chemotypes: limonene/sabinene/bicyclogermacrene in the Pink Pearl, limonene/?terpinene/bicyclogermacrene in the Sanguinea, and limonene/?-phellandrene/?-terpinene in theFaustrime. Moreover, some volatiles, found exclusively in one cultivar, could be considered potentialmarkers of the individual cultivar. PCA allowed us to clearly discriminate the samples into threeclusters: the first related to the Sanguinea peel, the second to the Faustrime peel, and a third groupassociated with the Pink Pearl peel along with the pulp of the three cultivars. Accordingly, the VOCsthat mostly contributed to the differentiation of the three finger lime cultivars were also identified.Among them, D-limonene, sabinene ?-terpinene, ?-pinene, ?-phellandrene, ?-myrcene, p-cymene,linalool, ?-elemene, ledene, bicyclogermacrene ?-citronellol, ?-bergamotene, ?-caryophillene, and?-bisabolene, have been previously reported to exhibit important biological activities, suggestingthat these cultivars, in addition to possessing unique volatile profiles, can show promise for severalapplications in pharmaceutical and food industry, namely for development of functional foods.