Extraction and Identification of Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted by Fragrant Flowers of Three Tillandsia Species by HS-SPME/GC-MS

Abstract

Numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with a large chemical diversity are emitted by plant flowers. They play an important role in the ecology of plants, such as pollination, defense, adaptation to their environment, and communication with other organisms. The Tillandsia genus belongs to the Bromeliaceae family, and most of them are epiphytes. The aromatic profile of the Tillandsia genus is scarcely described. In this study, we use the headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method developed in our laboratory to explore the chemical diversity of the VOCs of fragrant flowers of three species of the genus Tillandsia. We were able to identify, for the first time, 66 volatile compounds (monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, phenylpropanoids, and other compounds). We identified 30 compounds in T. xiphioides, 47 compounds in T. crocata, and 43 compounds in T. caliginosa. Only seven compounds are present in all the species studied. Comparison of the volatile compounds profiles by principal component analysis (PCA) between T. xiphoides, T. crocata, and T. caliginosa species showed a clear difference in the floral emissions of the studied species. Moreover, floral VOCs profiles allowed to differentiate two forms of T. xiphioides and of T. crocata.

Extraction and Identification of Volatile Organic Compounds in Scentless Flowers of 14 Tillandsia Species Using HS-SPME/GC-MS

“…Consequently, emission of VOCs from scentless flowers as the ones studied here can have an ecological role like pollinators attractors, together with the shape and color of the scentless flowers. The eight major compounds identified in the Tillandsia species (except T. paleacea and T. bandensis ) were, for most of them, not identified in our previous study conducted by Mame Lo et al [ 26 , 27 ]. Only benzaldehyde (22) and benzacetaldehyde (24) were previously identified, meaning that these compounds might be specific to the scentless or faint-scented species of the Tillandsia genus or were not detected in our previous study because they were minor.…”

“…The CAR/PDMS fiber was used with the extraction conditions developed in our previous studies for the identification and the extraction of volatile compounds from flowers of the 14 Tillandsia species [ 26 , 27 ]. Using the HS-SPME/GC-MS technique, a total of 65 compounds were identified from the floral emissions of Tillandsia , 12 monoterpenes, 9 sesquiterpenes, 17 phenylpropanoids/benzenoids, 5 aliphatic alcohols, 13 aliphatic aldehydes, and 9 other compounds such as furan-2-pentyl, 2 ionones, and 2 esters, for instance (see Table 2 ).…”

“…Between 6 and 25 compounds per analyzed species were identified in the 14 profiles. In the precedent study of our laboratory, using the same extraction conditions, 30 compounds were identified in the fragrant flowers of T. xiphioides [ 26 ], 47 compounds in T. crocata, and 43 compounds in T. caliginosa [ 27 ].…”

“…First, two extraction methods were developed and allowed the identification of 30 volatile compounds from T. xiphioides [ 26 ]. Then, these two methods were used to study the aromatic profile of T. caliginosa and T. crocata and allowed to identify 65 compounds [ 27 ]. Before this work, only one pioneering study about the aromatic profile of the Tillandsia genus was carried out in 1991 for T. crocata species [ 28 ].…”

Comparative Analysis of the Floral Fragrance Compounds of Panax notoginseng Flowers under the Panax notoginseng-pinus Agroforestry System Using SPME-GC-MS

“…NIST14 (National Institute of Standards and Technology) mass spectrometry database was used for qualitative identification, and only the results with positive and negative matching values greater than 800 were selected for analysis. The RI value was calculated according to the method in references [ 41 , 42 ]. Identification was performed by comparing the mass spectrum with that of the NIST library and by comparison of RI (retention index) with RI of published literatures and online library ( (accessed on 20 October 2021)).…”