Volatile Metabolic Markers for MonitoringPectobacterium carotovorumsubsp.carotovorumUsing Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Identifying the extracellular metabolites of microorganisms in fresh vegetables is industrially useful for assessing the quality of processed foods. Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (PCC) is a plant pathogenic bacterium that causes soft rot disease in cabbages. This microbial species in plant tissues can emit specific volatile molecules with odors that are characteristic of the host cell tissues and PCC species. In this study, we used headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) to identify volatile compounds (VCs) in PCC-inoculated cabbage at different storage temperatures. HS-SPME-GC-MS allowed for recognition of extracellular metabolites in PCC-infected cabbages by identifying specific volatile metabolic markers. 4-Ethyl-5-methylthiazole and 3-butenyl isothiocyanate were identified as markers of fresh cabbages, whereas 2,3-butanediol and ethyl acetate were identified as markers of soft rot in PCC-infected cabbages. These analytical results demonstrate a suitable approach for establishing non-destructive plant pathogen-diagnosis techniques as alternatives to standard methods, within the framework of the development of rapid and efficient analytical techniques for monitoring plant-borne bacterial pathogens. These techniques also demonstrate promising applications for the freshness management and quality control of cabbages.

AI-Based UAV Swarms for Monitoring and Disease Identification of Brassica Plants Using Machine Learning: A Review

“…Moreover, it uses quantitative information from the VOC sample and detects diseases at different stages. The headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography along with mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) is applied for identifying particular volatile metabolic markers [34]. This approach identified markers of fresh and infected with soft rot disease and proves to be promising for quality control and managing the freshness of cabbages.…”

Latest Improvements and Expanding Applications of Solid-Phase Microextraction

“…The volatile compounds in hongeo , tea, pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum-inoculated cabbage, and areca nuts have been extracted to investigate the fermentation process, as well as to identify the characteristic aroma and metabolic markers.…”

Targeted metabolite profiling of Salvia rosmarinus Italian local ecotypes and cultivars and inhibitory activity against Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum

“…as cultivation measures, physical, chemical, and biological treatments for controlling soft rot were evaluated ( van der Wolf et al., 2021 ). Analytical techniques for monitoring P. carotovorum were applied ( Yang et al., 2021 ). Studies on various aspects of P. carotovorum virulence, ranging from quorum-sensing signal molecules, biofilm formation, regulation of expression of virulence genes by plant extracts and compounds, sensitivity to phage cocktails, and plant cell-wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs) production have been carried out ( Põllumaa et al., 2012 ; van der Wolf et al., 2017 ; Gutierrez-Pacheco et al., 2018 ; Agyemang et al., 2020 ; Van Gijsegem et al., 2021a ; Van Gijsegem et al., 2021b ; Kim et al., 2022 ; Su et al., 2022 ).…”