Identification of ethyl vanillin in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) using a targeted metabolomics strategy: From artificial to natural

Xuebo Song; Mark E Porter; Vance M Whitaker; Seonghee Lee; Yu Wang

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100944

Identification of ethyl vanillin in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) using a targeted metabolomics strategy: From artificial to natural

Food Chem X. 2023 Oct 14:20:100944. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100944. eCollection 2023 Dec 30.

Authors

Xuebo Song¹, Mark E Porter², Vance M Whitaker², Seonghee Lee², Yu Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Citrus Research & Education Center, Food Science and Huamn Nutrition Department, University of Florida, Lake Alfred, Florida 33850, United States.
² Department of Horticultural Sciences, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Wimauma, FL 33598, United States.

Abstract

Improving flavor can be an important goal of strawberry through breeding that is enhanced through the accurate identification and quantification of flavor compounds. Herein, a targeted metabolomics strategy was developed using liquid-liquid extraction, an in-house standard database, and GC-MS/MS analysis. The database consisted of key food odorants (KFOs), artificial flavor compounds (AFCs) and volatiles. A total of 131 flavor compounds were accurately identified in Medallion® 'FL 16.30-128' strawberry. Importantly, ethyl vanillin was identified for the first time in natural food. Multiple techniques, including GC-MS, GC-MS/MS and UPLC-MS/MS were applied to ensure the identification. The ethyl vanillin in the Medallion® samples were determined in a range of concentrations from 0.070 ± 0.0006 µg/kg to 0.1372 ± 0.0014 µg/kg by using stable isotope dilution analysis. The identification of ethyl vanillin in strawberry implys the future commercial use a natural flavor compound and the potential to identify genes and proteins associated with its biosynthesis.

Keywords: Ethyl vanillin; Ethyl vanillin: (PubChem CID: 8467); Flavor Compounds; Furaneol: (PubChem CID: 19309); GC–MS/MS; Mesifurane: (PubChem CID: 61325); Stable Isotope Dilution Analysis (SIDA); Strawberry; Targeted Metabolomics; Vanillin: (PubChem CID: 1183).