Evaluation and Comparison of Pear Flower Aroma Characteristics of Seven Cultivars

Abstract

Due to its ornamental and medicinal value, pear flower has been historically loved and used in China. However, the current understanding of their odor-active compounds and aroma profiles is rather limited. This work aimed to evaluate and compare the overall aroma profile of pear flowers; the volatiles in flowers of seven pear cultivars (Anli, Bayuesu, Golden, Brown peel, KorlaXiangli, Lyubaoshi, Xizilü) were analyzed using solid-phase microextraction–gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS). A total of 93 volatile compounds were identified and quantified within the amount of volatiles in the range of 62.7–691.8 μg kg−1 (FW) and showed high and significant variability in different cultivars. Anli and Brown peel flowers showed a relatively higher volatile abundance, while KorlaXiangli flowers were significantly lower than other cultivars. Although the composition of volatiles depended on the existence of different chemical classes, the odor activity values (OAVs) and odor descriptions showed some aldehydes were part of their main peculiarities and were considered as the basic active odorants that presented strong intensity of citrus and floral odor. Moreover, multivariate analysis showed the pear flower of different cultivars could be arranged in different clusters by the identified odorants. This study provides first-hand knowledge regarding pear flower aroma profiles, and that the cultivar differences were critical for the overall pattern.

Improving pollen and nectar supply by identifying the red clover (Trifolium pratense) cultivars that attract most pollinators

“…Additionally, pollinator abundance was significantly greater on diploid accessions while controlling for floral density, indicating that diploid accessions were disproportionately visited. This may have been due to floral traits not examined here, such as volatile emissions (Kigathi et al, 2019; Li et al, 2022; Rodriguez‐Saona et al, 2011), and therefore should be an area of further research. For farmers, tetraploid cultivars are desirable for their increased persistence and forage yield (Boller et al, 2010), which is beneficial as red clover yield often declines after 3 years (Abberton & Marshall, 2005; Black et al, 2009).…”

Protein/Lipid ratio of pollen biases the visitation of bumblebees (Bombus ignitus Smith) to male-fertile cultivars of the Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai)

“…For example, Li et al (2022) compared the profile of flower odor bouquets among cultivars of P . pyrifolia (‘Golden’, ‘Brown peel’, ‘Xizilü’) by head space SPME-GC-MS [ 42 ]. However, whether the odors of male-fertile/sterile cultivars are different is uncertain.…”

“…Other studies have addressed some inter-cultivar differences in odor and nectar of P. pyrifolia. For example, Li et al (2022) compared the profile of flower odor bouquets among cultivars of P. pyrifolia ('Golden', 'Brown peel', 'Xizilu ¨') by head space SPME-GC-MS [42]. However,…”

Biochemical Characterization of Six Traditional Olive Cultivars: A Comparative Study

“…The concentration of volatile compounds characterized the quality were strongly influenced by storage conditions, the extraction process, and the climate with the growing condition of the olive [66,[69][70][71]. Previous studies showed that cultivars belong to different horticultural species have a significant effect on biochemical and aroma profile [74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81].…”