The Volatile Fraction of Chestnut Honey

Abstract

SummaryThe volatile components of a unifloral chestnut (Castanea sativa) honey were isolated by steam distillation/extraction and studied using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer equipped with a computerized system for data acquisition and library search. The extract of volatiles was a complex mixture of at least 50 compounds, 19 of which had not been previously reported to be present in honey. Some compounds, and particularly the main component of the mixture (3-aminoacetophenone), may be specific for the floral source.