| Summary: | Among the many attractive and desirable attributes that create demand for fruits from the tropics and subtropics, their characteristic
flavor is the most noticeable to consumers . In addition, these fruits are often inexpensive, are extremely rich in vitamins, and can be used in a wide range of products including beverages, desserts, and diary products. Loquat is the fruit of Eriobotrya japonica Lindl., a small evergreen tree native to Japan and actually grown there as well as in various other tropical and subtropical countries . The purpose of this study is to isolate and identify volatile components in loquat fruit grown in Cuba. Volatile components were isolated from loquat fruit by simultaneous steam distillation/solvent extraction according to Likens-Nickerson and analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Among 140 constituents separated, 128 were identified . A rough survey of the chemical classes represented in the loquat
flavor was as follows: Acids comprise the largest class of volatiles (57.4 %); the composition of the other classes of compounds was as follows: aldehydes and ketones, 13 .7 %; parafines, 10.6 %; alcohols, 5 .5 % ; terpenoids, 5 .2 %; esters, 2.7 % and others, 4 .9 %. Hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, decane, benzaldehyde and nonanal were found to be the major constituents . The
highly amounts of fatty acids was thought to contribute to the unique flavor of this fruit.
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