Celery is a fibrous horticultural vegetable grown globally and widely consumed due to its health benefits, distinct flavours and culinary versatility. Currently, few datasets examine its aroma development across maturity which could help guide growers towards optimising harvest times whilst identifying potential consequences of harvesting outside commercial maturity. Freeze-dried celery of two genotypes, selected for biochemical and sensory differences, were harvested at three time-points and investigated using solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME GC/MS) and gas chromatography/olfactometry (GC/O). Both maturity and genotype showed significant (P < 0.05) interactions between compounds, and harvest stage exhibited greater impact upon aroma quality than plant genotype. Thus, indicating that agronomic practice is key in determining crop quality. Monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and phthalides begun to decrease once commercial maturity was reached, whereas alcohols were more prominent in post-mature celery. GC/O results confirmed the importance of phthalides to mature celery aroma and aroma differences caused by genotype.
Keywords: Aroma; Celery; GC-O; Maturity; Phthalides; SPME GC–MS; Terpenes; Volatile compounds.
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