Identification of Isolated Membrane Major Volatiles of Fresh Tomato
This research is aimed at the identification of volatile compounds from the isolated membranes fractions, microsomes, and deteriosomes. Fractions were isolated from tomato pericarp by ultracentrifugation at 252,000x g during 1 hour, followed by 362,000x g during 12 hours. The supernatant was infiltrated through a membrane of 300,000 D cut off to concentrate the deteriosomes. The volatiles from the fractions were analyzed by dynamic headspace and GC-MS. Our results suggest that the isolated fractions contained most tomato volatiles. Analysis by GC-MS identified two groups: compounds originating from fatty acids [e.g., hexanal and (E)-2-hexenal] and compounds coming from amino acids (e.g., 2 and 3-methyl butanal). Both microsomes and deteriosomes were highly enriched in volatiles on a protein basis. The increase in volatile compounds in these fractions was influenced by fruit maturity and correlate closely with volatile development in the intact fruit. Volatiles may be generated in the microsomes and released from the membranes via deteriosomes.