Historical Review on the Identification of Mesifurane, 2,5-Dimethyl-4-methoxy-3(2 H)-furanone, and Its Occurrence in Berries and Fruits

Urinary Biomarkers of Strawberry and Blueberry Intake

Introduction There is increasing interest in food biomarkers to address the shortcomings of self-reported dietary assessments. Berries are regarded as important fruits worldwide; however, there are no well-validated biomarkers of berry intake. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify urinary biomarkers of berry intake. Methods For the discovery study, participants consumed 192 g strawberries with 150 g blueberries, and urine samples were collected at 2, 4, 6, and 24 h post-consumption. A dose-response study was performed, whereby participants consumed three portions (78 g, 278 g, and 428 g) of mixed strawberries and blueberries. The urine samples were profiled by an untargeted LC-MS metabolomics approach in the positive and negative modes. Results Statistical analysis of the data revealed that 39 features in the negative mode and 15 in the positive mode significantly increased between fasting and 4 h following mixed berry intake. Following the analysis of the dose-response data, 21 biomarkers showed overall significance across the portions of berry intake. Identification of the biomarkers was performed using fragmentation matches in the METLIN, HMDB, and MoNA databases and in published papers, confirmed where possible with authentic standards. Conclusions The ability of the panel of biomarkers to assess intake was examined, and the predictability was good, laying the foundations for the development of biomarker panels.

Determination of volatile profiles of woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) during fruit maturation by HS-SPME GC-MS

BACKGROUND

Aroma is an important agronomic trait for strawberries, and the improvement of fruit flavor is a key goal in current strawberry breeding programs. Fragaria vesca (also known as woodland strawberry) has become an excellent model plant with exquisite flavor, a small genome size and a short life cycle. Thus, the comprehensive identification of fruit volatiles and their accumulation pattern of F. vesca strawberries are very important and necessary to the fruit aroma study. This study examined the volatile profile changes from the fruits of three F. vesca genotypes during maturation using headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 191 putative volatile compounds were identified, while 152, 159 and 175 volatiles were detected in 20-30 DAP (days after pollination) fruits of Hawaii 4 (HW), Reugen (RG) and Yellow Wonder (YW), respectively. Aldehydes and alcohols predominated in the early time point while esters were predominant during the late time point. Ketones were the dominant compounds from F. vesca strawberries at the ripe stage. Certain genotype-characteristic volatiles were identified, including eugenol, γ-octalactone and δ-decalactone only detected in YW, and mesifurane was found in HW.

CONCLUSIONS

RG and YW showed very similar volatile compositions, but YW presented a greater number of volatiles and RG yielded a higher content. Differences in the volatile composition may be primarily due to genetic relationships. The metabolic changes that occurred during fruit ripening and characteristic volatiles will be a useful reference for future studies of strawberry volatiles. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Chemical and Sensory Characterization of Xinomavro Red Wine Using Grapes from Protected Designations of Northern Greece

Despite Xinomavro (Vitis vinifera L.) being a well-known noble red grape variety of northern Greece, little is known about its ''bouquet'' typicity. Volatile compounds of Xinomavro wines produced using a common vinification protocol were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and sensory descriptive analysis was carried out with a trained panel. Wines were characterized by the presence of fatty acids, ethyl and acetate esters, and alcohols, with contributions from terpenes and a volatile phenol. The most active aroma compounds were determined to be 3-methylbutyl acetate, β-damascenone, ethyl esters of octanoic and hexanoic acids, and eugenol. Those compounds positively correlated with fruity and spicy odor descriptors, with the wines being mostly characterized by five typical aroma terms: strawberry, berry fruit, spices, tomato, and green bell pepper. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis was used to visualize relationship between the orthonasal sensory attributes and the volatile aroma compounds with calculated OAVs > 1. Key aroma-active volatiles in the wines were identified using GC-MS/olfactometry, providing a list of 40 compounds, among which 13 presented a modified detection frequency > 70%. This study is the first of its kind and provided strong indications regarding the aroma compounds defining the sensory characteristics of Xinomavro wines.