VOLATILE COMPOUNDS IN MEXICAN HAWTHORN (Crataegus spp.) FRUITS

Abstract

In Mexico 15 species of the genus Crataegus have been reported, they are called tejocote in Spanish, a word derived from the Nahuatl te-xocotl in reference to the hardness and acidity of the fruit. The phenotypic diversity of this genus is mainly noticed in the fruit for its variation in shape, size and color of epicarp. The profile of volatile compounds present in fruits and flowers of Mexican hawthorn is poorly documented. In this study, the volatile compounds of the fruit of 11 Mexican hawthorn genotypes were obtained by hydrodistillation. Fifty-one components were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which mainly include esters (20 %), terpenes (16 %) and organic acids (14 %). The EM50 genotype from the State of Mexico presented the largest number of volatile components. The volatile compound with the highest presence in five genotypes was hexanoic acid. No relationship was found between the profile of volatile components and the origin and size of the fruit. The identification of these metabolites in the Mexican hawthorn fruit could contribute to the chemotaxonomic knowledge of the Crataegus species from Mexico and to the use of the fruit in the agro-industry.