Melon Genetic Resources Characterization for Rind Volatile Profile

Abstract

A melon core collection was analyzed for rind volatile compounds as, despite the fact that they are scarcely studied, these compounds play an important role in consumer preferences. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry allowed the detection of 171 volatiles. The high volatile diversity found was analyzed by Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), giving rise to two major clusters of accessions. The first cluster included climacteric and aromatic types such as Cantalupensis, Ameri, Dudaim and Momordica, rich in esters; the second one mainly included non-climacteric non-aromatic types such as Inodorus, Flexuosus, Acidulus, Conomon and wild Agrestis, with low volatiles content, specifically affecting esters. Many interesting accessions were identified, with different combinations of aroma profiles for rind and flesh, such as Spanish Inodorus landraces with low aroma flesh but rind levels of esters similar to those in climacteric Cantalupensis, exotic accessions sharing high contents of specific compounds responsible for the unique aroma of Dudaim melons or wild Agrestis with unexpected high content of some esters. Sesquiterpenes were present in rinds of some Asian Ameri and Momordica landraces, and discriminate groups of cultivars (sesquiterpene-rich/-poor) within each of the two most commercial melon horticultural groups (Cantalupensis and Inodorus), suggesting that the Asian germplasm is in the origin of specific current varieties or that this feature has been introgressed more recently from Asian sources. This rind characterization will encourage future efforts for breeding melon quality as many of the characterized landraces and wild accessions have been underexploited.

Assessment of Genetic Parameters for Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and TSS Content Results in Melon Line Crosses at Five Maturity Stages

“…Melon fruit is distinguished by climacteric (reticulatus and cantaloupe type) and non-climacteric (inodorus type) characteristics [32,33]. is study used melon with climacteric character.…”

“…e hormone ethylene in climacteric melon causes this type of melon to be harvested when the fruit is not yet ripe. However, climacteric fruit harvested early causes fruit to be underripe [33], while fruit harvested late causes fruit to be too ripe when consumed [35]. e determination of the right harvest time is needed to maintain the quality of melons.…”

Spanish Melon Landraces: Revealing Useful Diversity by Genomic, Morphological, and Metabolomic Analysis

“…The levels of esters detected in the Ibericus landraces were low, a characteristic typical of non-climacteric melons. Previous works have shown that Ibericus melons have levels of esters in the rind similar to Cantaloupensis climacteric melons, but the contents are considerably reduced in the flesh [54]. Indeed, when wide collections of melon germplasm have been analysed for their VOC profile, Inodorus melons, which include the Ibericus group, are grouped with sweet and non-sweet non-climacteric melons with low VOCs accumulation and non-sweet climacteric melons, such as Flexuosus, Chate, Ameri, and Momordica.…”

Studies of Genetic and Morphological Characteristics of Indonesian Melon (Cucumis melo L. ‘Hikapel’) Germplasm

“…This special character comes from Hikapel's ancestor, namely the GMP (Gama Melon Parfum) cultivar. The aroma of melon has been identified as coming from volatile compounds dominated by acetic esters and non-acetic esters [19]. In certain conditions, the turbine which is the main character of the GMP cultivar still appears in the Hikapel cultivar, although in an exceedingly small percentage.…”