Volatilomics-Based Discovery of Key Volatiles Affecting Flavor Quality in Tomato

Zhonghui Zhang; Weizhen Ye; Chun Li; Haihong Zhou; Chao Wang; Penghui Liu; Binxin Zhou; Hanqing Zhao; Shouchuang Wang; Jun Yang

doi:10.3390/foods13060879

Volatilomics-Based Discovery of Key Volatiles Affecting Flavor Quality in Tomato

Foods. 2024 Mar 14;13(6):879. doi: 10.3390/foods13060879.

Authors

Zhonghui Zhang^{1

2}, Weizhen Ye^{1

2}, Chun Li^{1

2}, Haihong Zhou^{1

2}, Chao Wang^{1

2}, Penghui Liu^{1

2}, Binxin Zhou³, Hanqing Zhao³, Shouchuang Wang^{1

2}, Jun Yang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Hainan University, Sanya 572025, China.
² School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
³ College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding 071000, China.

Abstract

Volatile accumulation during tomato ripening greatly affects the fruit flavor. In this study, four accessions from each of the three tomato subgroups (BIG, S. lycopersicum, CER, S. lycopersicumvar. Cerasiforme, and PIM, S. pimpinellifolium) were subjected to a sensory evaluation. The CER subgroup had the highest fruit-flavor score. Using a Headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (HP-SPME/GC-MS), a volatile database containing 94 volatiles was created. Pentanal accumulated in green fruits and 1-pentanol in red fruits. 1-Octen-3-ol was discovered to underlie the bitterness of green tomatoes, and it was most abundant in PIM green fruits. Phenylethyl alcohol affected the acidity and sweetness of red tomatoes, and it was most abundant in CER red fruits. Branched-chain volatiles were most abundant in PIM and BIG red fruits, while apocarotenoids were most abundant in CER red fruits. These findings suggest that domestication and improvement have influenced volatile content, and apocarotenoids and branched-chain volatiles synergistically mediated aromatic flavors in red fruits. This study provides a metabolic basis for analyses of the molecular mechanisms of fruit-flavor formation.

Keywords: HP-SPME/GC-MS; sensory evaluation; tomato; volatiles.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (323CXTD373), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFF1001900), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32100212), the Hainan Province Science and Technology Special Fund (No. ZDYF2022XDNY144), the Hainan Provincial Academician Innovation Platform Project (No. HD-YSZX-202004), the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (No. 2019QNRC001), and the Hainan University Startup Fund [No. KYQD(ZR) 21025].