Abstract: Aromatic compounds in early-maturity pears Cuiguan,, Aiganshui, and Zhongli 1, at different maturity stages were studied by HS-SPME combined with GC-MS. Results showed: aldehydes, alcohols, esters, ketons and hydrocarbones were all detected in three pear cultivars at different maturity stages. The dominant aromatic compounds were aldehydes and alcohols, mainly including hexanal, 2-hexenal，nonanal, 1-hexanol and 3-hexen-1-ol. During the maturity of fruit, the total content of aromatic compounds in different cultivars were increased. However, it varied by the category of aromatic compounds, where aldehydes were increased in all cultivars and alcohols were decreased in all cultivars besides Cuiguan, with the increase of maturity. The aroma quantity in Aiguanshui, was highest at the earlier stage. However it was highest in Cuiguan, at the later stage, which was about two folds of the other two cultivars. Overall, the characteristics of aromatic component and content were varied by the cultivars and maturity stages.

Key words: early-maturity pears, maturity stage, aroma