Identification of volatile sulfur-containing compounds and the precursor of dimethyl sulfide in cold-pressed rapeseed oil by GC–SCD and UPLC–MS/MS

Volatile sulfur-containing compounds (VSCs) provide an important contribution to foods due to their special odors. In this study, VSCs in 21 cold-pressed rapeseed oils (CROs) from 9 regions in China were extracted and separated by headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography coupled with sulfur chemiluminescence detection. 19 VSCs were identified by authentic standards, and the total concentration of VSCs in all CROs ranged from 49.0 to 18129 μg/kg. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), with its high odor activity value (7–14574), was the most significant aroma contributor to the CROs. Furthermore, S-methylmethionine (SMM) in rapeseed was first affirmed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and isotope quantitation. The positive correlation coefficient between DMS and SMM was 0.793 ( p  < 0.05), which confirmed SMM as a crucial precursor of DMS in CROs. This study provided a theoretical basis for selecting rapeseed materials by the distribution of essential VSCs and the source of DMS.