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Volatiles in grape berries were affected by meteorological parameters under the double cropping system[3]. Significant differences in meteorological parameters between the two crop growing seasons are shown in Table 1. The summer growing season was from 1 March to 15 July, and the winter growing season was from 1 September to 31 December. In the present study, the active accumulated temperatures for both growing seasons were greater than 3,100 °C (Table 1), meaning that the active accumulated temperatures were sufficient to guarantee normal grape maturity[28]. The active accumulated temperature, the effective accumulated temperature, and the daily average temperature for the summer growing season was higher than those of the winter growing season. However, there were 83.33 h of high temperatures over 35 °C during the summer growing season, which was less than the winter growing season (127.17 h). Moreover, the relative humidity during the summer growing season showed a higher value than the winter growing season. For the solar radiation intensity and cumulative solar radiation, the winter growing season was higher than the summer growing season.
Table 1. Phenology and climatic factors during the two crop-growing seasons in Nanning (China) in 2022.
Meteorological data Summer Winter Phenology 1 Mar−15 Jul 15 Aug−31 Dec Active T (°C) 3,393.53 3,149.98 Effective T (°C) 2,023.53 1,769.98 Average daily temperature (°C) 24.78 21.92 High temperature (> 35 °C) (°C) 83.33 127.17 Relative humidity (%) 86.94 80.78 Solar radiation Intensity (W/m2) 93.86 108.65 Cumulative solar radiation (W/m2) 3,703,264.3 3,805,233.3 Overview of the volatile compounds of summer fruit and winter fruit
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To figure out the difference between SF and WF, volatile metabolite analysis was applied in this study. A total of 620 metabolites in 15 categories were detected, including 122 terpenoids, 115 esters, 99 heterocyclic compounds, 60 hydrocarbons, 52 ketones, 48 alcohols, 47 aldehydes, 31 aromatics, 11 amines, 11 acids, eight phenols, seven nitrogen compounds, three halogenated hydrocarbons, two sulfur compounds, and four others (Fig. 1a, Supplementary Table S1). There was no difference between SF and WF for 12 categories (Fig. 1b). WF had more terpenoids and heterocyclic compounds than SF. Conversely, SF had more esters (Fig. 1b).
Figure 1.
(a) Categorical all metabolite statistics. (b) Categorical metabolite statistics for SF & WF. (c) All metabolites for hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). (d) The relative content of classified metabolites for SF & WF.
For the relative metabolite contents, it was found that the metabolites were divided into two clusters, and significant differences could be observed in the substances between SF and WF. The metabolite relative contents in Cluster I were higher in SF, while WF exhibited higher relative contents in Cluster II metabolites (Fig. 1c). Phenols showed little difference between SF and WF, but SF was richer in the 14 other categories than that of WF (Fig. 1d).
SF and WF were evidently distinguished by PCA (Fig. 2a), the explanation rate of the first five principal components reached 87.1% (Fig. 2b). The cluster dendrogram divided SF and WF into two groups, which was consistent with PCA (Fig. 2c). The results indicated that the volatile compounds differed greatly between SF and WF.
Figure 2.
(a) Principal component analysis (PCA). (b) Grouped principal component analysis explanation rate plot. (c) Sample hierarchical clustering tree.
Analysis of differential volatile compounds
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To better distinguish volatile compounds between summer fruits and winter fruits, metabolites with fold change ≥ 2 and fold change ≤ 0.5 were selected as significant differences. The comparison SF_vs_WF showed a total of 143 different metabolites accounted for 23.18 % of the total detected substances, including 85 up-regulated metabolites and 58 down-regulated metabolites (Fig. 3a). The metabolites with a higher number for up-regulated were terpenoids, ketone, hydrocarbons, ester, aldehyde, alcohol, halogenated hydrocarbons, acids, and others (Fig. 3b). The metabolites with a higher number for down-regulated were amine, aromatics, nitrogen compounds, phenol, and heterocyclic compounds. It's worth noting that no sulfur compounds showed a statistically significant difference between SF and WF (Fig. 3a & b). For relative content, terpenoids, heterocyclic compounds, esters, and aromatics showed greater difference than other compounds (Fig. 3c).
Figure 3.
(a) Volcanic plot of differential volatile compounds. (b) Bar chart of the number of volatile compounds classified for up-regulation & down-regulation. (c) Scatter plot of differential volatile compounds. (d) Bar chart of the top 20 differential volatile compounds.
To determine the metabolites with large differences for the SF_vs_WF comparison, a list of the top 20 substances using Log2FC was made, including 10 up-regulation substances and 10 down-regulation substances (Fig. 3d). There were obvious distinctions between the SF and WF. The top 20 substances using Log2FC contained five categories: terpenoids (8), aromatics (4), heterocyclic compounds (3), esters (3), and ketones (2). The top 10 up-regulation substances contained seven terpenoids, one aromatic, one heterocyclic compound, one ketone, while three esters, three aromatics, two heterocyclic compounds, and one ketone in the top 10 down-regulation substances. These results suggested that, for the top 20 substances using Log2FC, terpenoids were mainly up-regulated in WF, while esters and aromatics were up-regulated in SF. Specifically, the up-regulated and down-regulated substances with the largest Log2FC for SF_vs_WF comparison were [1α,4aα,8aα]-1,2,4a,5,6,8a-hexahydro-4-7-dimethyl-1-[1-methylethyl]naphthalene (terpenoid) and 3-Hexen-1-ol, acetate, (Z)-(ester).
KEGG enrichment analysis of differential volatile compounds
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Fourty-nine of the 620 metabolites were annotated to 20 KEGG pathways (Supplementary Table S2). Additionally, 13 differential volatile compounds out of 143 differential volatile compounds between SF and WF were primarily annotated and enriched in the following seven pathways: biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, metabolic pathways and sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis, monoterpenoid biosynthesis, limonene and pinene degradation, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, and α-Linolenic acid metabolism (Fig. 4a & b; Table 2). Among them, the top three KEGG pathway types were biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, metabolic pathways and sesquiterpenoid, and triterpenoid biosynthesis, accounting for 53.85%, 46.15%, and 38.46% of the total differential volatile compounds annotated in KEGG respectively (Fig. 4a). KEGG annotations and enrichment showed that sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis, monoterpenoid biosynthesis, limonene and pinene degradation were the main KEGG pathways for the differential volatile compounds between SF and WF (Fig. 4b). Significantly except sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis, the other six pathways were mainly down-regulated (Table 2). These 13 differential volatile compounds were nine terpenoids, three aldehydes, and one ester (Table 2). Only four terpenoids were more in WF when compared with SF, including (E)-β-Famesene, Naphthalene,1,2,3,5,6,8a-hexahydro-4,7-dimethyl-1-(1-methylethyl)-, (1S-cis)-, α-Farnesene, and (E)-1-Methyl-4-(6-methylhept-5-en-2-ylidene)cyclohex-1-ener (Table 2). All the remaining nine differential volatile compounds were less in WF than in SF (Table 2).
Figure 4.
The classification of the KEGG enrichment pathway. (a) KEGG enrichment analysis of differential volatile compounds. (b) KEGG annotations and enrichment of differential volatile compounds for SF_vs_WF comparison.
Table 2. KEGG functional annotation and enrichment of differential volatile compounds between SF and WF.
Formula Compounds KEGG_pathway Class Odor SF vs WF C10H18O L-α-Terpineol Metabolic pathways, Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, Monoterpenoid biosynthesis Terpenoids Lilac, floral, terpenic Down C7H6O BenzAldehyde Metabolic pathways Aldehyde Sweet, bitter, almond, cherry Down C8H8O BenzAldehyde, 2-methyl- Metabolic pathways Aldehyde Mild floral, sweet Down C10H18O Bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-2-ol,
2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl)-, (1α,2β,5α)-Metabolic pathways, Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, Monoterpenoid biosynthesis Terpenoids Balsam Down C15H24 Naphthalene, 1,2,3,5,6,8a-hexahydro-4,7-dimethyl-1-(1-methylethyl)-, (1S-cis)- Metabolic pathways, Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, Sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis Terpenoids Thyme, herbal, woody, dry Up C7H6O2 2-hydroxy-BenzAldehyde Metabolic pathways Aldehyde Medical, spicy, cinmon, wintergreen, cooling Down C8H14O2 3-Hexen-1-ol, acetate, (Z)- Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, α-Linolenic acid metabolism Ester Fresh, green, sweet, fruity, ba--, apple, grassy Down C15H24 α-Farnesene Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, Sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis Terpenoids Citrus, herbal, lavender, bergamot, myrrh, neroli, green Up C15H24 (E)-1-Methyl-4-(6-methylhept-5-
en-2-ylidene)cyclohex-1-eneBiosynthesis of secondary metabolites, Sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis Terpenoids − Up C15H24O 2,6,10-Dodecatrienal,
3,7,11-trimethyl-, (E,E)-Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, Terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, Sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis Terpenoids − Down C15H24 (E)-β-Famesene Sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis Terpenoids Woody, citrus, herbal, sweet Up C10H16O Bicyclo[3.1.1]hept-2-ene-2-methanol, 6,6-dimethyl- Limonene and pinene degradation Terpenoids Woody, minty Down C10H16O 3-Oxatricyclo[4.1.1.0(2,4)]octane, 2,7,7-trimethyl- Limonene and pinene degradation Terpenoids Green Down − indicates no annotation of substance. Flavor omics analysis of differential volatile compounds
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One hundred and fourty-three differential volatile compounds were annotated to 159 sensory flavors (Supplementary Table S3). The top 10 sensory flavors with the highest number of annotations were green (23), fruity (21), herbal (14), woody (14), sweet (13), floral (9), fresh (8), fatty (8), citrus (8), and earthy (7) (Fig. 5a), which were the most important sensory flavors for SF and WF. The top 10 differential volatile compounds with high numbers of sensory flavor features annotation were Hexanoic acid, propyl ester (Ester), 3-Hexen-1-ol,acetate,(Z)-(Ester), Butanoic acid,hexyl ester (Ester), Butanoic acid, octyl ester (Ester), Fenchone (Terpenoids), Isocyclocitral (Aldehyde), Pyrazine, 2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl)-(Heterocyclic compound), Heptanal (Aldehyde), and Geranyl isobutyrate (Ester), which were the most important differential volatile compounds of sensory flavors for SF and WF (Fig. 5b).
Figure 5.
(a) Radar map for analysis of differential metabolite sensory flavor characteristics. (b) Sankey diagram of flavor omics.
Compared with WF, SF mainly showed green, fruity, herbal, woody, sweet, and earthy, the relevant substances were Hexanoic acid, propyl ester (Ester), 3-Hexen-1-ol,acetate,(Z)- (Ester), Butanoic acid,hexyl ester (Ester), Butanoic acid,octyl ester (Ester), Fenchone (Terpenoids), Isocyclocitral (Terpenoids), Pyrazine, 2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl)-(Terpenoids), etc (Fig. 5b). WF mainly showed more floral, fresh, fatty, and citrus than SF, according to a higher number of up-regulated metabolites for SF_vs_WF comparison, including 2-Undecenal,E-(Aldehyde), 2-Octen-1-ol,(E)-(Alcohol), 2-Dodecenal,(E)-(Aldehyde), (E)-β-Famesene (Terpenoids), etc (Fig. 5b).
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.
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About this article
Cite this article
Yu H, Guo R, Liu J, Shi X, Huang G, et al. 2024. Metabolome provides new insights into the volatile substances in 'Ruidu Kemei' grapes under the two-crop-a-year cultivation system. Fruit Research 4: e035 doi: 10.48130/frures-0024-0029
Metabolome provides new insights into the volatile substances in 'Ruidu Kemei' grapes under the two-crop-a-year cultivation system
- Received: 29 May 2024
- Revised: 11 July 2024
- Accepted: 31 July 2024
- Published online: 04 November 2024
Abstract: In subtropical regions, the implementation of a two-crop-a-year cultivation system depends on local climatic conditions. Grape volatile compounds vary greatly with the season, due to climate differences, which lead to extreme differences between summer grape fruits (SF) and winter grape fruits (WF). In the present study, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) was used to analyze volatile compounds from 'Ruidu Kemei' grapes grown under the two-crop-a-year cultivation system. Results showed that fruits in summer and winter contained 620 volatile compounds in 15 categories. Among them, terpenoids constituted the largest group, with 122 metabolites, followed by 115 esters. This indicated that the main volatile characteristic substances of 'Ruidu Kemei' were terpenoids and esters. Higher volatile compounds in SF might be associated with higher active accumulated temperatures in the summer growing season. In addition, terpenoids, heterocyclic compounds, esters, and aromatics showed greater differences than other compounds between SF and WF. Regarding terpenoids, WF exhibited superior performance, while SF performed better in esters and aromatics. For WF, higher solar radiation intensity promoted the biosynthesis of terpenoids, which lead to more floral characteristics than SF. According to the flavor omics analysis, 'Ruidu Kemei' was primarily characterized by green, fruity, herbal, woody, sweet, floral, fresh, fatty, citrus, and earthy. In the SF, green and fruity flavors were more prominent, while floral was the dominant fruity aroma in WF. This work provides new insights into the metabolism of volatiles in summer and winter grapes and reference for the selection and promotion of varieties with suitable aromas for a two-crop-a-year cultivation system.