# Compositional Analysis and Aroma Evaluation of Feijoa Essential Oils from New Zealand
## 2 Results and Discussion
### Compositional Analysis of Feijoa Essential Oil from Four Cultivars
Compound numbers were consistent with those listed in Table 1.  
Figure 4), were (\(Z\))-3-hexenyl butanoate (No. 40, 1.71-21.38 mg/mL), methyl geranate (No. 62, 3.08-12.76 mg/mL), (\(Z\))-3-hexenyl hexanoate (No. 71, 2.28-35.98 mg/mL), (\(Z\))-3-hexenyl benzoate (No. 98, 8.11-33.53 mg/mL), and benzyl benzoate (No. 124, 2.71-14.28 mg/mL). These compounds were also reported in previous studies [27; 28] on feijoa essential oil. However, it is noted that methyl benzoate and ethyl benzoate, both of which were predominant volatiles in feijoa fruits [16; 31; 32], were not found to be major components in feijoa essential oils. The concentration of methyl benzoate (No. 27) in the four essential oils varied significantly, with the lowest concentration detected in the Opal Star essential oil being 0.24 mg/mL, with a range of 1.70-15.46 mg/mL in the other three cultivars. Ethyl benzoate (No. 39) was only a minor component identified in the essential oils from the Unique and Wiki Tu cultivars (0.12 and 0.10 mg/mL, respectively). In addition, another important previously reported volatile ester in feijoa fruit, namely ethyl butanoate [33], was not detected in any of the four feijoa essential oils. The third dominant group in feijoa essential oil composition was alcohol (Figure 3). Besides the aforementioned alcohol compound \(\alpha\)-cadinol (No. 111), linalool, espatulenol, rosifoliol, and (\(-\))-spathulenol (No. 28, 101, 105, and 108, respectively) were also observed at high concentrations (Figure 4), which is generally consistent with the former research [28]. However, alcohols were not determined as major volatile compounds in feijoa fruits [16; 32; 33], which suggested that these compounds may not be abundant in feijoa fruits, but were concentrated during the essential oil extraction. More importantly, a number of dominant compounds in feijoa essential oil, including \(\beta\)-caryophyllene, humulene, \(\beta\)-elemene, \(\alpha\)-cadinol, and linalool were discovered to harbor antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities [34; 35; 36; 37; 38], which indicates that feijoa essential oil could be bioactive and has the potential to be utilized in the pharmaceutical industry. Further investigations into the bioactivities of feijoa essential oil are, therefore, of great importance. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**No. **} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Name**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**CAS**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**RI*** (RI***)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**MF**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**\(\boldsymbol{\Sigma}\)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**ID**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Relative Concentration (10-1 mg/mL)**} \\ \cline{6-11}  & & & & & & & & **Apollo** & **Unique** & **Opal Star** & **Wiki Tu** \\ \hline
**1** & Cyclohexylmethane & 108-87-2 & 707 (720) & 96.8 & H & MS, RI & 0.44 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\circ}\) & 0.47 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\circ}\) & 0.42 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\circ}\) & 0.53 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\circ}\) \\ \hline  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**No.