Flavor characteristic compounds found in the essential oil of Ocimum basilicum L. with sensory evaluation and statistical analysis

Oils obtained from various parts of the basil plant were categorized into five groups by preference ranking test of their aromas. Among them the aroma of fresh leaf-flower oil was the most preferable, while that of stem was the least. According to the odor assessment of each volatile compound by the sniffing method of gas chromatography, methylehavicol and 1-octen-3-ol were the most and the least preferable characteristic compounds, respectively. High statistical correlations were found among the volatile components of basil oil during sensory evaluation. A regression equation, which included four compounds, i.e., 1-octen-3-ol, alpha-muurolene, germacrene B, and methyleugenol, and which could explain the differences among the six kinds of oils about 70%, was obtained by SAS stepwise regression analysis. Also, this regression equation could be used to evaluate objectively the quality of basil oil