Lin Yang, Zhu Yiting, Xu Shixiang, Ye Qun, Shao Ping
Department of Food Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhejiang, Hangzhou 310014, China.
Guming Technology Group Co., Ltd., Taizhou, 318000, China.
Food Chem. 2025 Aug 25;494:146119. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.146119.
Lemon is widely valued for its bioactive components and unique flavor, which are influenced by diverse volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This study implemented flavoromics, a comprehensive profiling of flavor, combining non-volatile flavor with E-nose, HS-SPME-GC--MS, HS-GC-IMS, relative odor activity value (ROAV), and multivariate statistical analysis to systematically characterize the aroma profiles of five lemon varieties (Rough lemon, Key lime, Eureka lemon, Tahiti lime, and Rosso lemon). A total of 44 and 50 VOCs were identified by HS-SPME-GC-MS and HS-GC-IMS, respectively. Strikingly, 50 aroma-active compounds and 38 differential markers were identified as critical drivers of flavor divergence, including some trace VOCs that exhibited disproportionately high odor contributions. The complementarity of above methods demonstrated high accuracy in lemon varietal discrimination, with Rough lemon and Rosso lemon exhibiting the most divergent profiles. This study provides a robust methodological framework for lemon flavor characterization and offers insights into the chemical basis of aroma differences.
柠檬因其生物活性成分和独特风味而受到广泛重视，这些成分和风味受多种挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）影响。本研究采用风味组学，即对风味进行全面分析，将非挥发性风味与电子鼻、顶空固相微萃取-气相色谱-质谱联用（HS-SPME-GC-MS）、顶空气相色谱-离子迁移谱（HS-GC-IMS）、相对气味活性值（ROAV）以及多元统计分析相结合，以系统地表征五个柠檬品种（粗柠檬、墨西哥莱檬、尤力克柠檬、塔希提青柠和红柠檬）的香气特征。通过HS-SPME-GC-MS和HS-GC-IMS分别鉴定出44种和50种VOCs。令人惊讶的是，50种香气活性化合物和38种差异标志物被确定为风味差异的关键驱动因素，其中包括一些微量VOCs，它们的气味贡献不成比例地高。上述方法的互补性在柠檬品种鉴别中显示出高准确性，粗柠檬和红柠檬的香气特征差异最大。本研究为柠檬风味表征提供了一个强大的方法框架，并为香气差异的化学基础提供了见解。
