Abstract:
To identify the key aroma components in
Salvia sclarea L. essential oil and construct its flavor profile, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-MS-O) techniques were employed. These techniques combine dual-column (ZB-5 and ZB-WAX) systems to qualitatively analyze the aroma components in
Salvia sclarea L. essential oil, followed by a quantitative analysis using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in selected reaction monitoring (GC-MS-MS-SRM) mode. The key aroma components were screened based on their odor thresholds. The results showed that: 1) A total of 27 aroma-active compounds were olfactorily discriminated using two chromatographic columns, eight of which were detected by both columns. 2) These aroma-active compounds could be systematically classified into four major aroma categories: floral, fruity, herbal and woody. These categories jointly formed the flavor profile of Salvia sclarea L. essential oil. Floral and fruity compounds were more abundant, exhibiting higher flavor dilution (
FD) factors, whereas herbal and woody compounds were less abundant, exhibiting lower
FD factors. 3) The odor activity values (
OAVs) of the 17 key aroma compounds were all higher than 1. The dominant compounds representing the floral, fruity, herbal and woody aromas were linalool, linalyl acetate, myrcene and
β-caryophyllene, respectively.