Shalgam, a traditional red, cloudy and sour soft beverage, is produced by lactic acid fermentation of black carrot, sourdough, salt, bulgur flour, turnip and adequate water. The present study was designed to characterize the volatile compounds of shalgam obtained from different methods. The aroma compounds of shalgams produced by traditional and direct methods, and addition of Lactic acid bateria (LAB) cultures were examined. Volatile components of shalgam samples were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction technique with pentane/dichloromethane and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Sixty aroma compounds were identified in shalgam samples including 20 terpenes, 9 esters, 9 alcohols, 5 volatile acids, 6 volatile phenols, 5 lactones, 3 naphthalenes, 2 carbonyl compounds and 1 C13-norisoprenoids. It was found that the aroma profiles of shalgams were quite similar. However, the total volatile content of the shalgam samples increased with addition of Lb. plantarum.
Keywords: Aroma; Autochthonous starter culture; Fermented beverage; Lb. plantarum; Production methods; Shalgam (Salgam).