This paper compares the differences in metabolites of vanilla beans at five different curing stages. Key vanilla flavors, vanillin precursors and main enzymes during the curing process of Hainan vanilla beans were also analyzed. Hundreds of metabolites were detected based on metabolic analyses of a widely targeted metabolome technique, compared with blanched vanilla beans (BVB), sweating vanilla beans (SVB) and drying vanilla beans (DVB), the total peak intensity of cured vanilla beans (CVB) is on the rise. The score plots of principal component analysis indicated that the metabolites were generally similar at the same curing stages, but for the different curing stages, they varied substantially. During processing, vanillin content increased while glucovanillin content decreased, and vanillic acid was present in sweating beans, but its content was reduced in drying beans. Both p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and p-hydroxybenzoic acid showed the maximum contents in cured beans. Ferulic acid was mainly produced in drying beans and reduced in cured beans. p-coumaric acid increased during the curing process. Vanillyl alcohol in drying beans (0.22%) may be formed by the hydrolysis of glucoside, whose conversion into vanillin may explain its decrease during the curing stage. β-Glucosidase enzymatic activity was not detected in blanched and sweating beans, but was observed after drying. Peroxidase activity decreased during curing by 94% in cured beans. Polyphenol oxidase activity was low in earlier stages, whereas cellulase activity in processed beans was higher than in green beans, except for cured beans. This study contributes to revealing the formation of flavor components and the biosynthesis pathway of vanillin.
Keywords: enzyme activity; metabolites; vanilla flavors; vanillin precursors.