Volatile Profiles of Sweet Breads Enriched with Orange and Lime Peel Flours

This study characterized the volatile organic compounds of sweet breads formulated with 2% and 4% orange (Citrus sinensis) (C.S.) and lime (Citrus limetta Risso) (C.L.) peel flours by integrating gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and multivariate analysis. A total of 165 volatile compounds belonging to 11 chemical families were identified. Citrus peel flour significantly modified the volatile profile (p ≤ 0.05), primarily reducing furans, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, and pyrazines while increasing terpenes, aldehydes, alcohols, and esters. Monoterpenes reached their highest relative abundance in C.L. 2% (45.029 ± 2.284%), whereas sesquiterpenes progressively increased to 6.183 ± 0.762% in C.L. 4%. Several volatile compounds were tentatively identified in the formulations enriched with citrus peel flours. Limonene exhibited the highest relative abundance (14.957 ± 1.406%) in the C.L. 2% formulation, followed by the aldehydes neral (0.258 ± 0.041%) and citral (0.592 ± 0.102%), both detected in the C.L. 4% formulation. Other identified compounds included terpene alcohols, such as geraniol, citronellol, linalool, terpinen-4-ol, and α-terpineol, as well as esters, including geranyl acetate, (Z)-3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dien-1-yl acetate, and α-terpinyl acetate. These findings provide scientific evidence regarding changes in the profile of volatile compounds associated with the incorporation of citrus peel into sweet breads and support its practical application for diversifying the characteristics of sweet breads while promoting the valorization of agroindustrial byproducts.