Abstract: The aim of this study is to explore the yield and flavor characteristics of essential oils extracted from black pepper, white pepper, green pepper, and fresh pepper fruit. The essential oils were extracted by steam distillation, and the extraction yields of different pepper essential oils were compared. The flavor characteristics of different pepper essential oils were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), electronic nose and quantitative descriptive sensory analysis. The results showed that the extraction yield of essential oil from fresh pepper fruit was 3.229 mL/100 g, which was significantly higher than that from white pepper, black pepper, and green pepper (1.718, 1.867, and 1.487 mL/100 g, respectively). A total of 48 volatile substances were identified from the four pepper essential oils, the main ones being β-caryophyllene, 3-carene, D-limonene, β-pinene, δ-elemene, and β-myrcene. The electronic nose data confirmed that discriminant function analysis (DFA) distinguished different pepper essential oils better than principal component analysis (PCA). The sensory evaluation showed that the pepper-like aroma of the essential oil of fresh pepper fruit was stronger than the other three essential oils and had higher acceptance. The results of partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis showed that the aromatic?plant-like, herbal, and pepper-like aroma properties were positively correlated with (+)-α-pinene components. The experimental results provide a reference for the development and upgrading of pepper essential oil products.

Key words: pepper; essential oil; gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; flavor; partial least squares regression analysis