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Effects of different types of foliar fertilizer on the flavor quality of overwintering tomato in solar greenhouse
Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering 2023, 39(10): 218-226
Published: 30 May 2023
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Tomato quality degradation can happen under solar greenhouse production in winter, due to the low temperature and weak light. Taking the "184" tomato as the research object, an experiment was conducted to clarify the effects of the five types of foliar fertilizers on the composition and content of soluble sugar, organic acid components, and volatile substances. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Headspace Solid-Phase Micro Extraction (HS-SPME), and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques were also used to characterize the tomato samples. The results showed that three soluble sugars and seven organic acids were detected in the tomato fruit by HPLC. Three soluble sugars included sucrose, glucose, and fructose, the latter two of which were the two main soluble sugar of tomato fruit. Spraying selenium liquid fertilizer significantly increased the sucrose and glucose contents of tomato fruits at the white ripening, mature, and full-ripe stage (P < 0.05). The silicon and amino acid liquid fertilizer significantly increased the sucrose and glucose contents of tomato fruits at the white ripening, color turning, and mature stage, respectively (P < 0.05). Seven organic acids contained the oxalic acid, α-ketoglutaric acid, citric acid, quinic acid, malic acid, succinic acid, and fumaric acid. Among them, citric acid, malic acid, and succinic acid were the three main organic acids of tomato fruit. The contents of α-ketoglutaric acid, citric acid and malic acid at the mature stage significantly decreased by the selenium and fish protein aqueous fertilizer (P < 0.05). The selenium liquid fertilizer significantly increased the sugar-acid ratio of tomato at the white ripening stage and turning color stage by 15.32% and 12.15% compared with CK, respectively (P < 0.05). The GC-MS showed that 71 volatile substances were detected in the tomato fruits during the mature period, including 20 aldehydes, 9 ketones, 17 alcohols, 5 esters, 10 hydrocarbons, and 10 other substances. The aldehydes content was the highest in all treatments, and the esters content was the least. The five volatile substances with a high content were 2-hexenal, methyl heptenone, n-hexal, 2-isobutylthiazole, and guaiacol. Sixteen kinds of aldehydes were detected under the treatment of selenium liquid fertilizer, fish protein aqueous and fertilizer amino acid liquid fertilizer, which were two more kinds than those in the CK. All five foliar fertilizers increased the aldehyde content, indicating an increase of 21.89% under the treatment of silicon liquid fertilizer than that under the CK (P < 0.05). The 2-hexenal was the highest in the silicon liquid fertilizer treatment, which increased by 33.54%, compared with the CK. All the detected volatile substances contained nine characteristic aroma components, which were mainly divided into three types: Floral, fruity, and fragrant. Furthermore, the selenium, silicon, and seaweed essence water-soluble fertilizer treatments significantly increased the total content of characteristic aroma components of tomato by 7.93%, 17.68%, and 8.33%, respectively (P < 0.05), compared with the CK. In conclusion, the spraying of selenium and silicon liquid fertilizer can be popularized and applied in the production of tomatoes cultivated in the overwintering facility substrate, in order to improve the sugar component, the volatile aldehydes, and characteristic aroma components of tomato fruits, particularly for the flavor quality of tomato. The finding can provide the data support and practical reference for the high-quality cultivation of facility tomatoes.

Issue
Aroma Formation and Key Volatile Compounds in Coriander Leaves Across Growth Stages Based on GC-MS and E-Nose
Scientia Agricultura Sinica 2026, 59(7): 1552-1563
Published: 01 April 2026
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Objective

This study aimed to systematically investigate the dynamic changes in volatile aroma compounds of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) leaves at different growth stages, and identify key aroma-active substances and critical developmental periods for aroma formation, so as to provide a scientific basis for high-quality cultivation, optimal harvest timing, and value-added processing of coriander.

Method

‘Siji Dayouye’ coriander was used as the experimental material. Leaf samples were collected at five growth stages (15, 25, 35, 45, and 55 days after sowing). Volatile compounds were extracted using headspace solid-phase microextraction and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS), and overall aroma profiles were evaluated using an electronic nose (E-Nose) system. Key aroma compounds were identified based on odor activity values (OAV>1). Pearson correlation analysis was applied to explore relationships between volatile compounds and E-Nose sensor responses.

Result

A total of 119 volatile compounds were identified, including aldehydes (38), alcohols (17), hydrocarbons (25), esters (8), acids (10), ketones (8), and other compounds (13). Both the number and total content of volatile compounds increased initially and then declined, reaching a maximum at 35 days, with total volatile content 37.3% higher than that at 15 days. Aldehydes were the predominant compounds, showing a 45.5% increase at 35 days, mainly attributed to trans-2- tetradecenal and trans-2-decenal. E-Nose analysis revealed that sensors W2W, W5S, and W1C exhibited the strongest responses, with significant variations among growth stages. 17 key aroma-active compounds (OAV>1) were identified, 15 of which were aldehydes. Trans-2-tetradecenal showed the highest OAV (175850) at 25 days and was the principal contributor to the characteristic “fresh” and “citrus-like” aroma of coriander. Radar fingerprint analysis demonstrated distinct aroma profiles at different stages: “fresh” notes at 15 days; enhanced “citrus-like” and “oily” aromas at 25-35 days; prominent “fruity” and “camphor-like” notes at 45 days; and a notable “floral” aroma at 55 days. Correlation analysis indicated significant associations between key aldehydes and E-Nose sensor responses.

Conclusion

The combined application of GC-MS and E-Nose effectively characterized aroma variation in coriander leaves across different growth stages, established correlations between sensor responses and volatile compounds, and elucidated the aroma evolution mechanism of coriander leaves.

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