Abstract: In the current work, the aroma components of marketed navel oranges from five varieties such as Fengjie Newhal navel orange, Fengjie navel orange Fengyuan 72-1, Gannan Newhall navel orange, Changhong navel orange and Beibei Powell navel orange were investigated by solid phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with principal component analysis, and the feasibility of using aroma components for flavor evaluation of orange was explored. The orange varieties presented a large difference in their aroma components. The number of aroma components identified in them was 65, mainly monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and esters. The first and second principal components were explained as monoterpenes and oxided terpenoid derivatives, respectively. The difference of these aroma components resulted in the unique flavor characteristics of different orange varieties. Therefore, principal component analysis has the potential to be used for aroma quality evaluation of orange.

Key words: navel orange, volatile compounds, principal component analysis, gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS)