The differences in VOCs can affect the flavor and medicinal value of cabya, and the flavor changes that occur in stages as the fruit develops are currently unknown. In order to investigate the influence of the developmental stage on the aroma composition of cabya essential oil, VOCs at each of the four developmental stages were analyzed by steam distillation (SD) extraction combined with GC-MS detection. The similarities and differences in fruit composition among the developmental stages were evaluated using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). A total of 60 VOCs, mainly alcohols, alkenes and alkanes, were identified across all of the developmental stages. The most acidic substances were detected in phase A and have a high medicinal value. There was no significant difference between the B and C phases, and the alcohols in those phases mainly promoted terpenoid synthesis in the D phase. Constituents during the D phase were mainly alkenes, at 57.14%, which contributed significantly to the aroma of the essential oil. PCA and HCA both were able to effectively differentiate the cabya fruit developmental stages based on the SD-GC-MS data. In summary, this study investigated the flavor variation characteristics and the diversity of VOCs in cabya fruits at different developmental stages, and its findings can provide a reference for developing essential oil products for different uses and determining appropriate stages for harvesting cabya resources.
Keywords: GC-MS; HCA; PCA; VOCs; cabya (Piper retrofractum Vahl.).