## 3 Results and Discussion
### Volatile Compounds  
The volatile compounds are responsible for the characteristic aroma of tomato. Although approximately 400 identified volatile compounds have been identified, only a small group plays an important role in the aroma of fresh tomato: hexanal, 1-penten-3-one, cis-3-hexenal, trans-2-hexenal, cis-3-hexenol, 3-methylbutanal, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, 2-isobutylthiazol, \(\beta\)-ionone and methyl salicylate in suitable concentrations contribute to the tomato aroma [40]. Twenty-five volatile compounds were found in the volatile profile of cherry tomatoes cultivar \"Summerbrix\", which can be classified into 8 chemical families: aldehydes (\(n=10\)), terpenoids (\(n=6\)), ketones (\(n=3\)), alcohols (\(n=2\)), terpenes (\(n=1\)), thiazoles (\(n=1\)), esters (\(n=1\)), and acids (\(n=1\)) (Table 5). The predominant compounds were (\(E\))-2-hexenal (V2), hexanol (V3), hexanal (V1), 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (V7), and 2-isobutylthiazole (V10) (Table 6). These compounds have been previously reported as being odor-active compounds and essential for the tomato flavor [12; 41]. There was no significant and clear effect of the irrigation treatment on the contents of the volatile compounds present in these tomatoes.  
Figure 3: Quadratic correlation between \(\beta\)-carotene and lycopene content. Four repetitions per treatment were used for the correlation.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Code** & \begin{tabular}{c} **Volatile** \\ **Compounds** \(\ddagger\) \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Chemical** \\ **Family** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **RT (min)** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Retention Indexes \(\ddagger\)** \\ \end{tabular} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Descriptors**\(\ddagger\)} \\ \cline{4-6}  & & & **Exp** & **Lit** & \\ \hline V1 & Hexanal & Aldehyde & 3.054 & 851 & 820 & Fatty, green \\ V2 & (\(E\))-2-Hexenal & Aldehyde & 3.583 & 883 & 874 & Green, sweet, vegetable \\ V3 & Hexanol & Alcohol & 3.693 & 890 & 888 & Herbaceous, woody, sweet \\ V4 & Heptanal & Aldehyde & 4.090 & 914 & 914 & Oily, fruity, nutty \\ V5 & (\(E\))-2-Heptrenal & Aldehyde & 5.031 & 970 & 970 & Lemon, green, vegetable \\ V6 & Benzaldehyde & Aldehyde & 5.325 & 988 & 986 & Nutty, floral \\ V7 & 6-Methyl-5 & Ketone & 5.516 & 1000 & 995 & Oily, herbaceous, green \\ V8 & Octanal & Aldehyde & 5.895 & 1015 & 1014 & Honey, fruity, fatty, citrus \\ V9 & Limonene & Terpene & 6.541 & 1040 & 1039 & Lemon, orange, citrus \\ V10 & 2-Isobutyl & Thiazole & 6.810 & 1051 & 1043 & Green \\ V11 & 2-Octanal & Aldehyde & 7.336 & 1072 & 1071 & Spicy, herbaceous, green \\ V12 & Linalool & Terpenoid & 8.521 & 1114 & 1112 & Lemon, floral, citrus, sweet \\ V13 & Nonanal & Aldehyde & 8.616 & 1117 & 1114 & Grape, lemon, lime \\ V14 & Phenylethyl & Alcohol & 9.257 & 1136 & 1135 & Honey, rose \\ V15 & trans-2-Nonneal & Aldehyde & 10.550 & 1175 & 1169 & Waxy, fatty \\ V16 & Ethyl octanoate & Ester & 11.705 & 1208 & 1209 & Apricot, floral, pineapple \\ V17 & x-Terpineol & Terpenoid & 11.900 & 1215 & 1215 & Terpene, citrus, floral \\ V18 & Decanal & Aldehyde & 12.135 & 1219 & 1216 & Waxy, floral, citrus, sweet \\ V19 & \(\beta\)-Cyclocitral & Terpenoid & 12.895 & 1238 & 1234 & Tropical, herbal, rose, sweet \\ V20 & Neral & Terpenoid & 13.537 & 1255 & 1256 & Lemon \\ V21 & Geraniol & Terpenoid & 14.416 & 1278 & 1277 & Apricot, berry, rose, sweet \\ V22 & Geraniol & Terpenoid & 14.699 & 1285 & 1279 & Lemon \\ V23 & Nonanoic acid & Acid & 15.366 & 1302 & 1293 & Cheese, waxy \\ V24 & Geranyl acetone & Ketone & 22.008 & 1464 & 1461 & Fresh rose leaf, floral, fruity \\ V25 & \(\beta\)-Ionone & Ketone & 23.455 & 1499 & 1500 & Almond, sweet, vegetable \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \(\ddagger\) RT = retention time; Exp = experimental; Lit = literature. \(\ddagger\) National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST (2020); SáFC (2012).  
\end{table}
Table 5: Retention indices and sensory descriptors of the volatile compounds in cherry tomato samples.