ANALYSIS OF VOLATILE COMPONENTS DERIVED FROM THE CAROB BEAN CERATONIA-SILIQUA

Volatile components of carob beans were analysed using established procedures. In all, 169 components (ca 97.4% of the total isolate) were positively identified, of which 163 are reported as carob bean volatiles for the first time. A further eight components (ca 0.5%) were partially characterized. Seven aliphatic acids represented an extraordinarily high level (77.5%) of the isolate, the major contributors being methylpropanoic acid (45.0%) and hexanoic acid (19.0%). The non-acid volatiles contained 25 aliphatic esters (10.52%), most of which derived from the above acids, together with a range of classic volatile products deriving largely from the high sugar content and the lower protein and lipid content of mature carobs.