Affiliation:
1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Qian Hu Hou Cun No. 1, Nanjing 210014, China
2. Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, 159 Longpan Road, Nanjing 210037, China
Abstract
Blueberry is a nutrient-rich berry, and its taste and flavor directly determine the consumer preference. Until now, few studies have focused on the comparison of fresh food quality and the key metabolites in superior fresh-eating blueberry cultivars. Herein, fruit quality indicators of 10 highbush blueberry cultivars were evaluated using ‘Bluerain’ as the control. Appearance quality analysis of fruits showed that ‘Brigitta’ had a larger fruit size and ‘Anna’ was the smallest. ‘Anna’ fruits, followed by ‘O′Neal’, had the highest ratio of soluble solids to acidity because of their lowest titratable acidity content. Despite the high soluble sugar content, the antioxidants in ‘Anna’ fruits such as total flavonoids, anthocyanins and vitamin C were lowest among all cultivars, while ‘Duke’ seemed to have opposite patterns. Furthermore, a total of 553 and 557 metabolites were identified by non-targeted metabolomics liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in positive and negative ion mode, respectively. Particularly, the numbers of differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were the most between the ‘O′Neal’ vs. ‘Bluerain’ group. The DAMs involved in the metabolic pathways, sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis, monoterpenoid biosynthesis, galactose metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, may be mainly related to the synthesis of flavor and carbohydrate substances. Moreover, the expression patterns of genes involved in sugar metabolism were verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis in different cultivars. Therefore, the systematical comparison of the quality characteristics, metabolites and expression profiles of related genes in highbush blueberries with good flavor could provide some basis for further research on fresh fruit breeding of blueberries.
Funder
Jiangsu Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Fund
“JBGS” Project of Seed Industry Revitalization in Jiangsu Province
Chinese Central Financial Project for Extension and Demonstration of Forestry Technology
Subject
Plant Science,Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics