Changes in aromatic profile of fresh and dried fig – the role of pre‐treatments in drying process

The aromatic profile of volatiles in fresh figs (FF), fresh figs frozen in liquid nitrogen (NF) and dried figs (DF) (dark variety Petrova?a Crna) was characterised by HS–SPME followed by GC–MS. Figs were dried in a pilot plant cabinet dryer using different pre‐treatments to preserve the dried fruit: sulphuring and immersion in a solution of citric acid and ascorbic acid (separately). The adaptability of thin‐layer drying models to whole figs was investigated. Fresh figs and fresh figs frozen in liquid nitrogen differed mainly in the amount of aldehydes. The highest abundance of volatile compounds in dried figs was found in figs pre‐treated with sulphur dioxide and the control, compared to samples immersed in the acid solutions. Preservation was the most successful for the group of terpenes and terpenic compounds, quite good for some esters and ketones, whereas aldehydes were not affected by the used pre‐treatment.