Volatiles of plums evaluated by HS-SPME with GC–MS at the germplasm level

The volatiles of 75 plums belonging to five species and one interspecific hybrid were investigated by headspace-SPME–GC–MS; 88 volatiles were identified. Prunus salicina and its hybrids had much more compounds and higher contents of volatiles than Prunusdomestica and other three Chinese wild species. Aldehydes were the dominant volatiles in P.domestica and Prunus spinosa while esters were the major volatiles in P. salicina, P. salicina hybrids and Prunus ussuriensis fruits. Regarding terpenoids and alcohols, they were relatively high in several P. salicina cultivars, P. salicina hybrids and P. spinosa, and in Prunus cerasifera, respectively. All the plum germplasms could be divided into three groups via principal component analysis: (1) nine cultivars of P. salicina with high ester content, (2) nine Chinese cultivars and one P. salicina hybrid with ester content and two terpenoids, and (3) the rest of the cultivars and three Chinese wild species without characteristic volatiles.

► Plum germplasm has rich volatiles.
► Ester, aldehydes and terpenoids are the main volatile compounds in plums.
► Composition and content of volatiles in plum depend largely on genetic background.
► Prunussalicina has much more volatiles and higher contents than the other genotypes.
► ‘Shuili’, ‘Jixinli’ and ‘Wuyueli’ of P. salicina have extremely high volatiles.