Differential volatile organic compounds in royal jelly associated with different nectar plants

The aim of this work was to distinguish volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles of royal jelly (RJ) from different nectar plants. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) was used to extract VOCs from raw RJ harvested from 10 nectar plants in flowering seasons. Qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of VOCs extracts were performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results showed that VOC profiles of RJ from the samples were rich in acid, ester and aldehyde compound classes, however, contents of them were differential, exemplified by the data from acetic acid, benzoic acid methyl ester, hexanoic acid and octanoic acid. As a conclusion, these four VOCs can be used for distinguishing RJ harvested in the seasons of different nectar plants.