Volatile and phenolic profiles, instrumental color, and microbiological safety of selected foods from Tajikistan: A chemometric study.

Tajikistan has a rich tradition of dried fruits, nuts/seeds, and honey, yet their quality parameters have been scarcely investigated. Given that these products are increasingly exported and accessible on international markets, including the EU, ensuring and verifying their quality is essential for consumer safety and market competitiveness. This study comprehensively characterized selected foods from Tajikistan in terms of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), selected extractable polyphenols, instrumental color, and microbiological status. VOCs were profiled by HS-SPME-GC-MS, polyphenols by HPLC-DAD, and color by an electronic eye in the CIE Lab** space; chemometric analyses were applied for pattern recognition. Fruit-derived samples (apricot, mulberries, rosehip, melon) and fruit-nut bars exhibited distinct VOC profiles compared with kernels/seeds (e.g., apricot kernels, pumpkin seeds, peanuts) and honeys (mountain herb, Khujand cotton). The cultivar of dried apricot markedly influenced the polyphenol composition, while sugar-coated almonds formed a separate cluster characterized by elevated kaempferol. Color metrics further highlighted sugar-coated almonds and pumpkin seeds as distinct groups. Microbiological screening showed no counts detected above the limit of detection (LOD) for aerobic mesophilic bacteria and coliform bacteria in any sample. Taken together, these results provide the first integrated multi-parameter profile of market-available Tajik foods and illustrate product-type-specific chemical and color signatures alongside microbiological compliance, supporting their use in quality monitoring and market positioning.