Volatile Bouquet Research Articles

AROMA VOLATILE DIFFERENCES IN COMMERCIAL ORANGE-FLESHED CANTALOUPES, THE INBRED PARENTAL LINES AND STORED FRESH-CUTS

ISHS XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Issues and Advances in Postharvest Horticulture AROMA VOLATILE DIFFERENCES IN COMMERCIAL ORANGE-FLESHED CANTALOUPES, THE INBRED PARENTAL LINES AND STORED FRESH-CUTS

Book Review

Book Review

Volatile production by buds and corollas of two sympatric, confamilial plants, Ipomopsis aggregata and Polemonium foliosissimum.

We used solid-phase microextraction of headspace samples followed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify and quantify the major volatile compounds produced by the buds and corollas of Ipomopsis aggregata (Polemoniaceae), and we compared them to a sympatric, confamilial plant species, Polemonium foliosissimum. The two species have distinct floral morphologies and pollinators, but share a common predispersal seed predator that oviposits under the calyces of buds. Ipomopsis aggregata buds emitted fewer compounds than the corollas. The buds of I. aggregata were dominated by alpha-pinene and, to a lesser extent, beta-pinene. The corollas of I. aggregata emitted a mixture of 10 compounds. Like the buds, I. aggregata corollas produced relatively high concentrations of alpha-pinene as well as caryophyllene. In addition, the emission of four terpenoids, three esters, and one ketone added to the volatile bouquet of the corollas. Polemonium foliosissimum buds also emitted fewer compounds than the corollas. The buds of P. foliosissimum were dominated by beta-pinene and, to a lesser extent, alpha-pinene. The corollas of P. foliosissimum were also dominated by beta-pinene along with three terpenoids, three alcohols, one ester, and two aldehydes. Comparing I. aggregata and P. foliosissimum, bud samples from both species produced considerable amounts of alpha- and beta-pinene. Ipomopsis aggregata emitted more alpha-pinene than beta-pinene, while P. foliosissimum emitted more beta-pinene. The corollas of the two species, however, differed in their volatile bouquet. The partition of volatiles between I. aggregata and P. foliosissimum buds and corollas and differences in volatile production between I. aggregata and P. foliosissimum are consistent with selection pressures exerted by organisms interacting with these plants.

Neurophysiological and behavioural evidence for an olfactory function for the dorsal organ and a gustatory one for the terminal organ in Drosophila melanogaster larvae

Multicellular electrophysiological responses from the dorsal organ on the cephalic lobes of third instar Drosophila melanogaster larvae (wild-type Canton S) stimulated with a cold-trapped banana volatile extract showed that this structure has an olfactory function in the fruit fly. Responses of the dorsal organ were also recorded to constituents of the banana volatile extract as they eluted from a gas chromatographic column (GC-coupled dorsal organ electrophysiology). The active chemostimulants were identified as 2-heptanone, isoamyl alcohol, hexyl acetate, hexanol and hexyl butyrate by gas chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry. Applying the same recording system to the terminal organ sensilla, no responses were obtained to either the banana volatile bouquet or its constituents. By contrast, high frequency multicellular responses were recorded in response to touching the terminal organ with the gustatory stimuli KCl and grapefruit juice; responses were absent on similar stimulation of the dorsal organ with either NaCl or KCl. This suggests a role for olfaction by the dorsal organ and for gustation by the terminal organ in Drosophila larvae. In a 7-mm high wind tunnel with a thin 1.2% agar floor, the Drosophila larvae showed odour-conditioned upwind responses in an air stream of 0.1 m/s bearing banana volatiles. Drosophila larvae responded best to the odour of cut bananas. A 1:1 mixture of the banana odour constituents 2-heptanone and hexanol (at either 50 or 100 μg source dose each) proved as attractive as the known larval attractants propionic acid and isoamyl acetate on their own at 100 μg, whereas hexanol and 2-heptanone on their own at a 100 μg source dose were less attractive. The stronger behavioural response to the banana volatile bouquet and to the binary mixture serves to underline the multireceptor nature of the dorsal organ response to food odour in Drosophila.

Mating expenditures reduced via female sex pheromone modulation in the primitively eusocial halictine bee, Lasioglossum ( Evylaeus ) malachurum (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

The present paper reports on behavioral ex- periments and gas chromatographic analysis of chemical communication in the mating biology of the primitively eusocial sweat bee Lasioglossum (Evylaeus) malachurum. In a dual-choice experiment, a female made odorless was significantly less attractive than an untreated one. At- traction in L. (Evylaeus) malachurum is therefore medi- ated by a female-produced sex pheromone. Further bioassays showed that unmated gynes are more attrac- tive to males than mated ones. Males are able to dif- ferentiate between the two groups of females as little as 3 h after mating. Biotests with different samples ob- tained from attractive gynes showed surface extracts to be most attractive. Behavioral tests with synthetic copies of the compounds identified as cuticular constituents of virgin gynes were highly attractive to males; the volatile bouquets consisting of n-alkanes, n-alkenes and iso- pentenyl esters of unsaturated fatty acids were the most attractive samples. Isopentenyl esters of unsaturated fatty acids were the key compounds in inducing male inspections as well as stimulating pounces and copula- tory attempts. Virgin and nesting gynes differed clearly in the relative and absolute amounts of the volatiles on the cuticle. The total amount of volatiles was signifi- cantly higher in virgin gynes and decreased in breeding queens. Hydrocarbons were the dominant group of