Application of the Porapak Q column extraction method for tomato flavor volatile analysis

The Porapak 0 column method (PQM) was compared to the method of simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE) under reduced pressure for extraction of the volatile compounds produced by tomato cv. Momotaro. The PQM was found to be effective at trapping and isolating many low and high boiling point volatile compounds and at producing the very desirable natural ripe tomato flavor of extracts. The SIDE method was less effective in isolating the higher boiling point volatile compounds and caused deterioration of volatile compounds due to the heating process that takes place during extraction, resulting in an unpleasant boiled green tomato flavor of extracts. The advantages of using the PQM are its simplicity and its high efficiency in isolating many volatile compounds from nonvolatile materials at room temperature. A total of 367 volatile compounds were isolated by the PQM. Of these, hexanal, (Z)-3-hexenal, (E)-2-hexenal, 2- and 3-methylbutanol, and 2-phenylethanol were relatively more abundant than other compounds and (Z)-3-hexenal showed the highest relative amount.