This work examined the degree of influence of apple variety, apple ripening stage, and yeast strain on the volatile composition of apple cider. Four apple varieties grown in Estonia were selected for the study - Antei, Melba, Kulikovskoye, and Orlovski Sinap. The must from the apples at various stages of ripening (unripe, ripe, overripe) underwent alcoholic fermentation using commercially available yeast strains. Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry was employed to assess the differences in volatile composition between the samples. Out of the variables analyzed in this work, apple variety turned out to be the primary attribute influencing the quality and aroma properties of apple cider. The effect of yeast strain and the maturity of the fruit was variety-specific where the volatile profiles of ciders made with Melba variety were the least influenced by the ripening stage of apples and yeast strains used for the fermentation.
Keywords: Apple cider; Food Analysis; Food technology; Gas chromatography; Hard cider; Volatile composition.