Analysis of the variation in scent components of Hosta flowers by HS-SPME and GC–MS

• Major scent components of Hosta were terpenoids.
• Linalool was defined to be the character impact compound of Hosta flowers.
• At the full blooming stage, the scent of Hosta became strongest.

Hosta plantaginea is considered the only species in Hosta to produce strong floral fragrance, with some of its hybrids also present distinct fragrance. This study was undertaken to determine the contributions of floral volatile compounds to this phenomenon and to ascertain the potential for increasing floral fragrance diversity. Forty-six hostas (6 species and 40 cultivars) were used to investigate the composition and relative contents of floral volatile compounds by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). More than 70 volatile compounds were detected, in which 48 compounds were identified as scent components. Terpenoids were the dominant scent components, mainly including myrcene, limonene, (E)-β-ocimene and linalool. The results revealed that 39 hostas with imperceptible fragrance (HIF) emitted low levels of linalool, whereas 7 hostas with distinct fragrance (HDF) emitted high levels of linalool which was defined to be the character impact compound of Hosta flowers. HIF were divided into three clusters according to shared emission of dominant myrcene, limonene and (E)-β-ocimene, and HDF fell into myrcene subgroup, (E)-β-ocimene subgroup and linalool subgroup. Across flowering stages, scent components were emitted drastically at the stage of full bloom and decreased highly after full bloom. The tepal part and the pistil and stamen part emitted quite similar scent components which varied only slightly in relative amounts.