## 1 Introduction  
Currants are berry-bearing shrubs of the _Ribes_ L. genus (_Grossulariacene_ family), with the most common species being _R. rubrum_ L. (red, white, and pink currants) and _R. nigrun_ L. (black currant) [1]. Red, white, and pink currants are similar in composition, belonging to the same species. Ripe red currants are bright red with a delicate tart flavor due to organic acids, while white currants are less acidic, sweeter, and have a unique flavor, typically ranging in color from white to yellowish or pinkish [2]. Black currants are dark blue due to anthocyanins, more astringent, and possess a distinct, strong aroma. They are rich in minerals, pectins, ascorbic acid, and, notably, polyphenic compounds, which contribute significantly to astringency and are potent antioxidants [3, 4, 5]. While currants can be consumed fresh; their acidic, astringent flavor means the majority are commercially processed into products such as juices, wines, liqueurs, syrups, jams, and jellies [1]. The flavor compounds of black currants and their products have been extensively studied since the 1960s. Research has focused not only on characterizing aroma compounds [6; 7] but also on the impact of various factors on the aroma profile, including growing conditions [8], cultivar [9; 10], ripening stage [6; 11], and processing conditions such as freezing [6], thermal treatment [12; 13], enzymatic treatment [7], and storage [7; 14]. Various methods assess volatile aroma compounds in fruits, differing mainly in extraction techniques. Early studies on currants and currant products used traditional solvent extraction [2; 15; 16]. However, this method has several drawbacks: It is time-consuming, requires large sample and solvent volumes, and target analytes can be affected or lost due to high temperatures or the solvents used. Furthermore, large solvent volumes complicate trace analysis and pose environmental pollution, health hazards to personnel, and increased waste treatment costs. Later studies employed solventless techniques such as solid-phase extraction [15], dynamic headspace [10; 12; 13], and vacuum-headspace extraction [6]. However, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has become the most common technique [11; 14; 17; 18] due to its simplicity, speed, versatility, and solvent-free nature, minimizing sample handling and volatile component loss. A drawback of SPME is that quantitative and accurate extraction can be challenging, as the extraction efficiency of each compound depends on the equilibrium between the liquid and gas phases and its affinity for the SPME fiber. Studies have shown qualitative and quantitative compositional differences depending on the isolation method, indicating that no universal method exists. For example, [PERSON] et al. [16] found different compound compositions in black currants when comparing headspace and solvent extraction. Gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), sometimes coupled with olfactometry for aroma description [15; 16], remains the standard approach for determining thermally labile volatile compounds and was used in most of the cited studies. In contrast to the extensive research on the volatile compounds of black currants, sensory analysis of their quality has received significantly less attention. [PERSON] et al. [15; 19] and [PERSON] et al. [20] were among the first to identify typical black currant aroma descriptors. Subsequent studies have examined the impact of factors such as composition [21], processing [7; 8; 13], and storage [3; 4; 5] on black currant aroma/flavor. Most of these studies [3; 4; 7; 20] focused on juice, the main commercial product. Studies on red/white currants are scarce and primarily focus on taste-related compounds like sugars, acids, and phenolics [2; 22] or on phenolics as potent antioxidants [23; 24; 25].