Abstract
Luculia plants are famed ornamentals with sweetly fragrant flowers. Luculia yunnanensis Hu is an endemic plant from Yunnan Province, China. Headspace-solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) was used to identify the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of the different flower development stages of L. yunnanensis for the evaluation of floral volatile polymorphism. The results showed that a total of 40 compounds were identified at four different stages. The main aroma-active compounds were 3-carene, α-cubebene, α-copaene, δ-cadinene, and isoledene. Floral scent emission had the tendency to ascend first and descend in succession, reaching its peak level at the initial-flowering stage. The richest diversity of floral volatiles was detected at the full-flowering stage. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the composition and its relative content of floral scent differed at the whole flower development stage. In comparison with the other two species of Luculia (L. pinceana and L. gratissima), the composition and its relative content of floral scent were also different among the tree species.
Highlights
The genus of Luculia Sweet comprises small trees or shrubs belonging to the Rubiaceae family
We investigated the floral volatiles in L. yunnanensis using Headspace solid phase micro-extraction (HS-solid-phase microextraction (SPME)) coupled with gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) to evaluate the volatile polymorphism of different flower development stages, which provide guidance for the evaluation of flower scent quality and the generation of fragrant L. yunnanensis for future breeding programs and the function of floral fragrance
A total of forty volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were detected in L. yunnanensis flower development
Summary
The genus of Luculia Sweet comprises small trees or shrubs belonging to the Rubiaceae family It has about five species in the world, mainly distributed in Southeastern Asia. There are three species distributed in China; i.e., L. pinceana Hooker, L. gratissima (Wallich) Sweet and. Luculia species can be recognized by the compact and long-term blooming inflorescences consisting of white, pink to red, and sweetly fragrant flowers with extremely long corolla tubes [2]. L. yunnanensis distinguishes itself from its allied species by the surface of inflorescence axes, the hypanthium portion of the calyx, and its fruit covered by densely tomentose pubescences. It is difficult to find wild populations of L. yunnanensis, as its appropriate habitats have been fragmented by human activities [1,3]
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