Characterization of key aroma compounds from different rose essential oils using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, gas chromatography-olfactometry and partial least squares regression.

To characterise the key aroma compounds of rose essential oils, five samples (Rosa damascena essential oil, Rosa centifolia essential oil, Rosa alba essential oil, Rosa rugosa cv. 'Plena' essential oil, Rosa xanthina Lindl essential oil) were analysed by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA). Thirty-nine aroma compounds were selected as key aroma compounds by GC-MS and GC-O. The aroma of rose essential oils was described by 10 sensory attributes such as honey, sweet, fermented, spicy, fruity, woody, floral, herbal, green and fresh. The partial least squares regression (PLSR) result showed the relationship between key aroma compound and characteristic aromas of rose essential oils. This paper provided a reference for the flavourists.