Relationship between key environmental factors and profiling of volatile compounds during cucumber fruit development under protected cultivation

Abstract

To provide precision management of cucumber under protected cultivation, the relationships between environmental factors and daily increment of aroma in two lines were analyzed during development, using Pearson correlation and stepwise regression. Irrespective of the line tested, the daily increment of volatile compounds and C6 aldehydes were positively correlated with average daily light intensity (X1), while the daily increment of C9 aldehydes was negatively correlated with average daily relative humidity (X4) and average daytime relative humidity (X7). X1 was considered as the most significant environmental factor which affected the daily increment of volatile compounds in both lines, X7 was the environmental factor which affected the daily increment of C9 aldehydes most in No.14-1, and X1 and X4 were the factors which affected the daily increment of C6 aldehydes and C9 aldehydes most in No.26. A range of environmental factors was forecast for the maximal daily increment of volatile compounds.