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Analysis of floral scent emitted from Syringa plants

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Abstract

Syringa is an important aromatic woody angiosperm that is widely planted in gardens. Its dry flowers are traditionally used to manufacture infusions and spices in China. In this study, the floral volatiles emitted from nine different Syringa species and varieties, viz. S. chinensis, S. p rotolaciniata, S. o blata, S. o blata var. giraldii, S. o blata var. plena, S. v ulgaris ‘Mrs Harry Bickle’, S. v ulgaris ‘Bright Centennial’, S. v ulgaris ‘White Spires’, and S. v ulgaris ‘President Lincoln’ were collected by the dynamic headspace technique, and then identified by automated thermal desorption–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. There were significant differences in components and corresponding contents of floral scent emitted from the nine Syringa species and varieties. Among the detected components, β-ocimene exhibited the highest content, accounting for more than 70 % of the floral scent of S. p rotolaciniata, S. o blata var. giraldii, and S. v ulgaris ‘Bright Centennial’. A significant daytime variation of floral scent emitted from S. p ekinensis was recorded, especially for benzaldehyde, whose content first increased and then decreased. We studied the scent emitted from the in vitro flowers of S. v ulgaris ‘Pres Lincoln’ during the process of natural drying. Alcohol compounds were released in the greatest content, and the content of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol accounted for about 40 % of the total release amount. The results described the emission pattern and mechanisms of floral scent in Syringa.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Fang Xu in the Experimental Test Centre of Beijing Forestry University for the ATD–GC/MS analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Landscape, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, 102206, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoxia Yang, Jing Zhao, Jian Zheng, Pingsheng Leng, Xiaolong Li, Zenghui Hu & Jianbin Liu

  2. Beijing Rural Landscape Planning and Design Engineering Technology Center, Beijing, 102206, People’s Republic of China

    Zenghui Hu

  3. Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Zenghui Hu

  4. Beijing Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, People’s Republic of China

    Xin Meng

Authors
  1. Xiaoxia Yang
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  2. Jing Zhao
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  3. Jian Zheng
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  4. Pingsheng Leng
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  5. Xiaolong Li
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  6. Zenghui Hu
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  7. Jianbin Liu
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  8. Xin Meng
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zenghui Hu.

Additional information

Project funding: This work was supported by the Project of Construction of Innovative Teams and Teacher Career Development for Universities and Colleges under Beijing Municipality (IDHT20150503), the National Natural Science foundation of China (31201645), Science and Technology Planning Project of Beijing (Z121100007412003), and Building Project of Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment (PXM2015-014207-000014).

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Corresponding editor: Zhu Hong

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Yang, X., Zhao, J., Zheng, J. et al. Analysis of floral scent emitted from Syringa plants. J. For. Res. 27, 273–281 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-015-0156-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-015-0156-3

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