Saturated and mono-unsaturated long-chain hydrocarbon profiles from Citrus unshiu juice sacs

Six cultivars of satsuma mandarin—Kawano Wase, Owari, Silverhill, Foley, Sugiyama and Nobilis—were examined for content of saturated and mono-unsaturated long-chain hydrocarbons in their juice sacs. Linear hydrocarbons accounted for more than 53% of the saturates and more than 87% of the monoenes. In the saturated fraction the major linear hydrocarbon was C₂₅ while in the monoene fraction C₂₅ and C₂₉ predominated. The ratios of linear/iso C₂₃ and C₂₅ saturates were greater than in other citrus previously investigated. Kawano Wase had profiles quite different from the other cultivars. Foley and Owari can be differentiated from the other cultivars by their linear monoene profiles. Long-chain hydrocarbon profiles intrinsic to the mandarin species, C. unshiu, were compared with profiles of non-mandarin species.