{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,2]],"date-time":"2025-11-02T04:59:47Z","timestamp":1762059587961,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]],"date-time":"2022-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1657843200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation","award":["BlackGold INTEGRATED\/0916\/0019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BlackGold INTEGRATED\/0916\/0019"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Metabolites"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Carob\u2019s recognized nutritional and medicinal value next to its unique agriculture importance is associated with an array of social, economic, and cultural activities. The carob fruit is popular for its intense aroma due to the emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The composition of VOCs released from carob fruits changes during ripening, rendering it a non-invasive tool for the determination of the ripening period and freshness of the fruit. Therefore, headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography\/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC\/MS) was applied to reveal the respective gaseous signal molecules related to fruit maturity. The sampling was implemented during weeks 26\u201336 from five different locations in Cyprus. Additionally, the gaseous emissions of total VOCs (TVOCs) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were recorded next to the moisture content of the fruit. The major chemical classes in the ripening are acids, followed by esters, and ketones. More specifically, the most abundant VOCs during ripening are propanoic acid, 2-methyl-(isobutyric acid), 2-heptanone, propanoic acid, 2-methyl-, 2-methylbutyl ester, acetic acid, methyl isobutyrate, propanoic acid, 2-methyl-, 3-methylbutyl ester, 2-pentanone, butanoic acid and propanoic acid, 2-methyl-ethyl ester. Finally, CO2 emissions and moisture content showed a rapid decline until the 31st week and then stabilized for all examined areas. The methodology revealed variations in VOCs\u2019 profile during the ripening process.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/metabo12070656","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,17]],"date-time":"2022-07-17T22:57:06Z","timestamp":1658098626000},"page":"656","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["HS-SPME-GC\/MS Analysis for Revealing Carob\u2019s Ripening"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4582-7525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Panagiota","family":"Fella","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kyriaki","family":"Kaikiti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marinos","family":"Stylianou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8371-0910","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Agapios","family":"Agapiou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1095-8339.2003.00254.x","article-title":"The ecological status of the carob-tree (Ceratonia siliqua, Leguminosae) in the Mediterranean","volume":"144","author":"Mabberley","year":"2004","journal-title":"Bot. 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