Comparative key aroma compounds and sensory correlations of aromatic coconut water varieties: Insights from GC × GC-O-TOF-MS, E-nose, and sensory analysis

[Display omitted] •The volatile components in aromatic coconut water were analyzed by GC × GC-O-TOF-MS and E-nose.•Key aroma components of two types of coconut water were identified by AEDA and ROAV.•A clear distinction was established between the two types of coconut water using E-nose.•Correlations were found between aromatic compounds and sensory properties. Aroma is a key criterion in evaluating aromatic coconut water. A comparison regarding key aroma compounds and sensory correlations was made between Thailand Aromatic Green Dwarf (THD) and Cocos nucifera L. cv. Wenye No. 4 coconut water using E-nose and GC × GC-O-TOF-MS combined with chemometrics. Twenty-one volatile components of coconut water were identified by GC × GC-O-TOF-MS, and 5 key aroma compounds were analyzed by relative odor activity value and aroma extract dilution analysis. Moreover, the combination of the E-nose with orthogonal partial least squares was highly effective in discriminating between the two coconut water samples and screened the key sensors responsible for this differentiation. Additionally, the correlation between volatile compounds and sensory properties was established using partial least squares. The key aroma compounds of coconut water exhibited positive correlations with the corresponding sensory properties.