Identification of odour-important norisoprenoids in Arbutus pavarii honey

Arbutus pavarii honey is a rare and expensive honey derived from the floral nectar of the wild strawberry tree Arbutus pavarii pamp. This study focused on the identification and characterisation of norisoprenoids responsible for its unique savoury, saffron-like aroma. Volatile components (from honey samples collected over three years 2015, 2016, 2017) were isolated by continuous liquid-liquid extraction (cLLE) combined with solvent-assisted flavour evaporation (SAFE) and the potent odorants determined by GC-olfactometry, aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) and GC-MS. Seventeen norisoprenoids and two additional isophorone derivatives were detected, 14 of which were positively identified and their concentrations determined by stable isotope dilution analysis (SIDA)-HS-SPME-GC-(TOF)MS. Results indicated that lanierone (1) was the most important odorant, while a-isophorone (4) was the most abundant norisoprenoid in Arbutus pavarii honey.