Characterization of Volatile Flavour Profiles in Five Chilli Pepper Varieties Using a Combined Approach of Electronic Nose, GC – MS and GC – IMS

ABSTRACT Chilli peppers are widely valued for their distinctive flavour profiles, which directly influence their processing performance and commercial potential. However, the evaluation of chilli pepper flavour quality is still limited by the lack of objective and data‐driven approaches. To address this gap, this study systematically investigated the volatile flavour characteristics of five representative dried chilli pepper varieties, namely mildly spicy Erjingtiao (A1), moderately spicy Erjingtiao (A2), Mogui chill pepper (M), new generation chill pepper (X) and Qixing (Q). A multi‐dimensional analytical strategy was employed, integrating electronic nose (E‐nose), gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (GC–IMS). Sensory analysis revealed significant differences among samples, with M exhibiting the strongest pungency, whereas A1 displayed more pronounced nutty and fatty aroma attributes. E‐nose combined with chemometric analysis effectively discriminated the five varieties. The first two principal components explained 78.4% of the total variance in principal component analysis (PCA), while the first two latent variables of the partial least squares regression (PLSR) model accounted for 74.2% of the total variation. Hierarchical cluster analysis separated 25 samples into four clusters at a Euclidean distance threshold of 0.21, with the X variety forming an independent group. GC–IMS further identified 33 volatile organic compounds, comprising 11 esters, 9 alcohols, 6 aldehydes, 5 ketones and 2 acids. Differential fingerprint analysis showed that the X variety exhibited substantially higher VOC abundance within the retention time range of 200–600 s, while (Z)‐3‐hexen‐1‐ol was exclusively detected in Q. These findings demonstrate that the integrated analytical approach enables reliable flavour discrimination and provides a scientific basis for chilli quality evaluation and utilization.