Abstract
Using dill (Anethum graveolens L.) as a model herb, we reveal novel associations between metabolite profile and sensory quality, by integrating non-target metabolomics with sensory data. Low night temperatures and exposure to UV-enriched light was used to modulate plant metabolism, thereby improving sensory quality. Plant age is a crucial factor associated with accumulation of dill ether and α-phellandrene, volatile compounds associated with dill flavour. However, sensory analysis showed that neither of these compounds has any strong association with dill taste. Rather, amino acids alanine, phenylalanine, glutamic acid, valine, and leucine increased in samples exposed to eustress and were positively associated with dill and sour taste. Increases in amino acids and organic acids changed the taste from lemon/grass to a more bitter/pungent dill-related taste. Our procedure reveals a novel approach to establish links between effects of eustressors on sensory quality and may be applicable to a broad range of crops.
Highlights
Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) is a culinary herb used worldwide to season foods including sauces, salads and seafoods
Spicy was the main attribute correlated with separation along PC2. These findings suggest that treatment with either UV-A-enriched or UV-B-enriched light or CN appears to improve the characteristic dill flavour compared with control conditions, since the sensory attributes of the dill plants subjected to eustress conditions moved from the situation at outset (Exp_control) towards PC1, i.e. towards the loadings that were related to a charac teristic dill taste
As treatment with either UV-A-enriched or UV-B-enriched light or CN consistently changed the sensory profile from the situation at the outset (i.e. Exp_control) towards a characteristic dill taste, we explored the individual differences at the levels of metabolites and flavourrelevant compounds between the different samples obtained from the experimental greenhouse
Summary
Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) is a culinary herb used worldwide to season foods including sauces, salads and seafoods. Protected cropping in structures such as greenhouses allows dill production to be extended to off-season periods when lack of natural light or low temperatures impair field production, in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, where dill is extensively consumed. Greenhouses offer the advantage of year-round production, but when it comes to nutritional or sensory quality, greenhouse products have a poor reputation compared to their outdoor-grown counterparts (Kyriacou & Rouphael, 2018). While greenhouse production protects from extreme temperatures and excess UV that can impair plant grown (Rouphael, Kyriacou, Petropoulos, De Pascale, & Colla, 2018), plants rely on light and temperature as signals to regulate the synthesis of metabolites that confer environmental acclimation and which, in addi tion, are responsible for some of the nutritional and sensorial attributes of the horticultural produce (Kyriacou & Rouphael, 2018)
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