Effect of Pretreatment Combined with Hot Air Drying on Flavour Substances in Saimaiti Cut Apricots Based on GC-IMS

The effects of color-preserving pretreatments (hot water blanching, steam blanching, microwave treatment, and sulfite soak) and hot air drying temperatures (40, 50, 60 °C) on the flavor compounds of half-cut and destoned fresh Saimaiti apricot and dried apricot were investigated, in order to provide theoretical basis and technical support for producing high-quality dried apricot. Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) combined with orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was employed to analyze the effect of color-preserving pretreatments on apricot and the effect of pretreatments combined with hot air drying on apricot flavor compounds, using untreated fresh apricot and sun-dried apricot as controls. GC-IMS detected 51 and 78 flavor compounds in pretreated apricot and pretreated hot air-dried apricot, respectively. Eight characteristic markers were screened from the four pretreated apricots, including (Z)-4-heptenal, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, hexanenitrile, dimethyl disulfide, propanal, mesityl oxide, furfural, and 2-heptanol. From the pretreated hot air-dried apricot, 15, 16, 13, and 14 characteristic markers were screened, respectively, with 5 common characteristic markers identified: 3-methyl valeric acid, ethyl 2-methylpropanoate, 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol, methyl chavicol, and isovaleraldehyde. Sulfite-soaked apricot in half cut apricot and steam-treated apricot dried at 50 ℃ exhibited a richer variety of flavor compounds.