Comparative study of volatile compounds of cold‐pressed oils extracted from three different oilseeds after gamma irradiation

To investigate the effect of gamma irradiation on the volatile compounds of edible oils. Three types of oilseeds, including peanut, sesame, and flaxseed, were subjected to 8 kGy gamma irradiation, followed by cold pressing to extract their oils. The volatile compounds of the oils were isolated by simultaneous distillation extraction and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 91 volatile compounds were identified, which can be grouped into eight categories: hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, acids, esters, furans, and benzene derivatives. Irradiation treatment resulted in a significant increase in the levels of hydrocarbons, aldehydes, and ketones in all oil samples (p < 0.05), with the greatest increase observed in hydrocarbons (4-14 times). In contrast, changes in alcohols, acids, esters, furans, and benzene derivatives were related to oilseed type. The increased hydrocarbons mainly originated from the degradation of palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids. The irradiation resistance of the three oilseeds varied considerably, in the order: flaxseed > sesame > peanut. Based on the odor activity value, 11 key aroma compounds were selected, and (E)-2-decenal (tallow, oily, and orange), 1-octanol (soapy and oily), and 1-nonanol (floral and soapy) were only detected in the irradiated samples. Principal component analysis revealed that the oil samples of the three oilseeds could be well classified based on their key aroma compounds, and that the irradiation treatment had no remarkable effect on their intrinsic aroma.