Introduction. Detarium senegalense J.F. Gmel is a forest tree found in Senegal whose fruits are locally called ditax in Wolof. It is eaten fresh but it is widely used as nectar, which is one of the most popular beverages in Senegal. However, the chemical characterization of ditax pulp remains incomplete. This paper describes the volatile compounds of ditax to assess its organoleptic qualities. Materials and methods. Free volatile compounds of fresh ditax pulp were isolated by solvent-assisted flavor evaporation and analysis by GC-MS. Results and discussion. Among the 53 compounds tentatively identified, 49 are reported for the first time in this fruit. In total, 17 aldehydes, 11 aliphatic alcohols, 1 terpene alcohol, 7 free fatty acids, 3 unsaturated hydrocarbons, 1 terpene hydrocarbon, 7 sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, 1 phenol, 2 ketones, 2 esters and 1 organic acid compound were tentatively identified in ditax fresh pulp. The main volatiles identified in fresh ditax pulp were trans, cis-2,6-nonadienal (2.47 mg×kg–1), cis-2-heptenal (1.93 mg×kg–1), trans-a-bergamotene (1.11 mg×kg–1), bicyclo [2,2,0] hexane-1-carboxaldehyde (0.80 mg×kg–1), butyl octadecanoate (0.55 mg×kg–1) and trans-2-nonenal (0.47 mg×kg–1 fresh pulp). Conclusion. Among the volatile compounds identified, aldehyde compounds were widely predominant. To assess the aromatic qualities of ditax pulp, the primary impact aromas should be determined by identifying the aroma-active compounds by GC-olfactometry.