Metabolite variations of sugars, organic acids, fatty acids and amino acids in flower buds of Zingiber mioga Roscoe at different developmental stages

Abstract

Z. mioga is favoured by consumers for its unique spicy flavour, in which sugars, organic acids, fatty acids and amino acids have a great influence on its flavour formation. Therefore, the characteristic changes in relative contents of sugars, organic, amino and fatty acids in flower buds of Z. mioga at four developmental stages (DS1-DS4) were studied. The results indicated that the contents of total sugars, organic acids, total essential amino acids and total fatty acids were the highest at the stages of DS1, DS3, DS4 and DS4, respectively. According to the results of principal component analysis (PCA), Z. mioga at DS1-DS4 stages can be well separated and showed significant differences. Among those primary metabolites, the gluconic acid, sucrose, fructose-1,6-biphosphate, glucose-6-phosphate, glucose-1-phosphate and glucosamine in sugars, the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, malonic acid, succinic acid, aminomalonic acid and quinic acid in organic acids, the cycloleucine, L-aspartic acid, L-arginine and L-methionine, L-proline, L-valine and L-phenylalanine in amino acids, and the10-heptadecenoic acid, myristic acid, linoleic acid, undecylic acid and stearic acid in fatty acids played a major role in these changes in the formation of ginger flavour during its growth.