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. 2022 Apr 12;11(8):1101.
doi: 10.3390/foods11081101.

Characterization of Differences in the Composition and Content of Volatile Compounds in Cucumber Fruit

Jie Zhang  1 , Xiuchao Gu  1 , Wenjing Yan  1 , Lina Lou  2 , Xuewen Xu  1   2 , Xuehao Chen  1   3
Affiliations

Characterization of Differences in the Composition and Content of Volatile Compounds in Cucumber Fruit

Jie Zhang et al. Foods. .

Abstract

The cucumber is characterized by the presence of a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are recognized as the main responsible for its unique flavor. However, research on the types and contents of VOCs in different cucumber cultivars remains fragmentary. Here, using an automatic headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method, the VOCs were analyzed in three representative cucumber cultivars, including YX, KX, and GX, with the best, middle, and worst flavor quality, respectively, which were selected from 30 cultivars after flavor quality evaluation. Principal component analysis revealed that the six biological replicates were grouped, indicating high reliability of the data. A total of 163 VOCs were detected. There were 28 differential VOCs in YX compared to GX, 33 differential VOCs in YX compared to KX, and 10 differential VOCs in KX compared to GX. Furthermore, K-means clustering analysis showed that 38 of the 43 no-overlapping differential VOCs were represented by the most abundant compounds detected in YX. The prevailing VOCs in YX included: hydrocarbons, aldehydes, and ketones. The data obtained in the present study extend our understanding the impact of cultivars on VOCs in cucumber and will help facilitate targeted breeding.

Keywords: HS-SPME/GC–MS; cucumber; flavor; volatile organic compounds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Image of the three cucumber cultivars selected for HS-SPME/GC–MS analysis. From left to right: YX, GX, and KX.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Total ion current chromatograms of volatile compounds in cucumber fruit. The abscissa is the retention time (Rt) of metabolite detection, and the ordinate is the ion flow intensity of ion detection (intensity unit: CPS, count per second).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Principal components (PC) analysis of mass spectrum data of three cucumber cultivars YX, KX, and GX.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Overall clustering heatmap of samples of three cucumber cultivars YX, KX and GX.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Venn diagram of differential metabolites in comparative analysis of three groups. YX_vs_KX represents those differential metabolites between YX and KX; YX_vs_GX represents those differential metabolites between YX and GX; KX_vs_GX represents those differential metabolites between KX and GX.
Figure 6
Figure 6
K-means map of four subclasses of differential metabolites.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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