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GC–MS based metabolite profiling for flavor characterization of Brassica crops grown with different fertilizer application

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Abstract

In order to supply pleasant foods in ordinal dietary, improving crop quality by applying effective growth conditions is a desirable but challenging approach. In this study, to determine the sensory quality of mizuna (Brassica rapa L. var. Nipposinica), one of a Brassica leafy crops grown with different fertilizer application, GC–MS based hydrophilic metabolites and volatiles as well as sensory attributes were measured. Clusters of applied fertilizer condition were significantly divided between with or without manure amendments within all the variances including sensory and metabolite data. Projection to latent structures regression analyzes revealed that l-glutamine, l-asparagine, and other amino acids negatively correlated with bitterness, whereas raffinose, maltose, and malic acid positively correlated with bitterness. Furthermore glucosinolate breakdown products, particularly allyl isothiocyanate revealed a strong positive correlation with Brassica specific wasabi-like sharpness. Based on the comprehensive view of both metabolite and sensory profiling, the perspective for improvement in sensory quality is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the members of Agro-environmental Research Division (NARO/HARC), Research Support Center (NARO/HARC) and Ms. Aya Fukuda for assistance and management of the experiment. Furthermore, we thank Dr. Shuji Shibata for critical discussions.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Keiki Okazaki

    Present address: National Agricultural and Food Research Organization/Agricultural Research Center, 3-1-1 Kannondai, Tsukuba, 305-8666, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Research Institute, HOKUREN Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, 375 Kita-6, Higashi-7, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0906, Japan

    Tomohiko Fukuda

  2. National Agricultural and Food Research Organization/Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center, Hitsujigaoka-1, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, 062-8555, Japan

    Keiki Okazaki, Takuro Shinano & Norikuni Oka

  3. National Agricultural and Food Research Organization/Tohoku Agricultural Research Center for Fukushima Region, 50 Harajukuminami, Arai, Fukushima, 960-2156, Japan

    Takuro Shinano

  4. Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita-21, Nishi-11, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 001-0021, Japan

    Tomohiko Fukuda, Takuro Shinano & Norikuni Oka

  5. Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center, Shintoshin 2-1, Chuo-ku, Saitama, 330-9731, Japan

    Ayano Watanabe

Authors
  1. Tomohiko Fukuda
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  2. Keiki Okazaki
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  3. Ayano Watanabe
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  4. Takuro Shinano
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomohiko Fukuda.

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Conflicts of interest

Author T.F, K.O, A.W, T.S, N.O declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all sensory panelists included in the study.

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Fukuda, T., Okazaki, K., Watanabe, A. et al. GC–MS based metabolite profiling for flavor characterization of Brassica crops grown with different fertilizer application. Metabolomics 12, 20 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-015-0938-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-015-0938-9

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