Peer-reviewedCC BYFood Chemistry: X31 Oct 2026

Integrating

Qingshan Li¹
Chunyan Zhang²
Ruibing Xu³
Gengrui Zhu¹
Yi Chen¹
Haidong Huang¹
Gaoyang Zhang⁴

4 affiliations

¹Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-environment and Agro-products Safety, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Science Education, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China
²School of Management, SEGi University, Petaling Jaya 47810, Selangor, Malaysia
³Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-environment and Agro-products Safety, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Plant Science Education, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China; Key Laboratory Forest Tree Genetics & Breeding of Liaoning Province, College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China
⁴College of Life Sciences, Shangrao Normal University, Shangrao 334001, China; Institute of Precision Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 311400, China; Corresponding author at: College of Life Sciences, Shangrao Normal University, Shangrao 334001, China.

Abstract

Wampee ( Clausena lansium ), a nutrient-rich tropical fruit in the Rutaceae family, is prized across southern China and Southeast Asia for its distinctive sweet-tart flavor and aromatic complexity, yet the chemical basis of its varietal divergence remains poorly characterized. Here, we present a multi-platform integrated flavor-omics strategy that combines electronic nose profiling, electronic tongue sensing, and headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC–MS) to systematically resolve the volatile and taste architectures of three representative wampee cultivars—’Shanhuangpi’, ‘Bingtangxin’, and ‘Heijingang’—across peel and flesh tissues. Electronic nose analysis revealed that the first two principal components explained 90.98% of the total variance among the six sample groups, with linear discriminant analysis achieving 100% classification accuracy driven predominantly by long-chain alkane, sulfur-containing, and methylated volatile classes. Electronic tongue profiling identified sourness, sweetness, and aftertaste-astringency as the primary discriminants, and uncovered a consistent tissue-partitioning pattern whereby flesh tissues are enriched in sourness and sweetness, whereas peel accumulates astringency and bitterness. HS-SPME-GC–MS identified 288 volatile compounds spanning 15 chemical classes, with terpenoids constituting 28.82% of the total volatile pool. Odor activity value (OAV) analysis of 57 quantitated volatiles identified five key odorants—myristicin (4-Methoxy-6-(2-Propenyl)-1,3-Benzodioxole), estragole, damascenone, linalool, and myrcene—that collectively define the characteristic balsamic, floral, spicy, woody, and fruity sensory notes of wampee. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis robustly segregated peel from flesh (R 2 Y = 0.833, Q 2 = 0.647), with 96 volatile metabolites significantly up-regulated in peel and enriched in monoterpene hydrocarbons. KEGG pathway enrichment—an indirect inference from volatile end-products—indicated that terpenoid backbone, monoterpenoid, and sesquiterpenoid/triterpenoid biosynthesis are the principal routes plausibly governing tissue-specific aroma formation. These findings establish a foundation for wampee quality assessment, cultivar authentication, and flavor-oriented breeding.

Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{li2026integrating,
  title = {{Integrating}},
  author = {Qingshan Li and Chunyan Zhang and Ruibing Xu and Gengrui Zhu and Yi Chen and Haidong Huang and Gaoyang Zhang},
  journal = {Food Chemistry: X},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104660},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104660},
  note = {CC BY},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Integrating
AU  - Qingshan Li
AU  - Chunyan Zhang
AU  - Ruibing Xu
AU  - Gengrui Zhu
AU  - Yi Chen
AU  - Haidong Huang
AU  - Gaoyang Zhang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/31
JO  - Food Chemistry: X
DO  - 10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104660
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104660
AB  - Wampee ( Clausena lansium ), a nutrient-rich tropical fruit in the Rutaceae family, is prized across southern China and Southeast Asia for its distinctive sweet-tart flavor and aromatic complexity, yet the chemical basis of its varietal divergence remains poorly characterized. Here, we present a multi-platform integrated flavor-omics strategy that combines electronic nose profiling, electronic tongue sensing, and headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC–MS) to systematically resolve the volatile and taste architectures of three representative wampee cultivars—’Shanhuangpi’, ‘Bingtangxin’, and ‘Heijingang’—across peel and flesh tissues. Electronic nose analysis revealed that the first two principal components explained 90.98% of the total variance among the six sample groups, with linear discriminant analysis achieving 100% classification accuracy driven predominantly by long-chain alkane, sulfur-containing, and methylated volatile classes. Electronic tongue profiling identified sourness, sweetness, and aftertaste-astringency as the primary discriminants, and uncovered a consistent tissue-partitioning pattern whereby flesh tissues are enriched in sourness and sweetness, whereas peel accumulates astringency and bitterness. HS-SPME-GC–MS identified 288 volatile compounds spanning 15 chemical classes, with terpenoids constituting 28.82% of the total volatile pool. Odor activity value (OAV) analysis of 57 quantitated volatiles identified five key odorants—myristicin (4-Methoxy-6-(2-Propenyl)-1,3-Benzodioxole), estragole, damascenone, linalool, and myrcene—that collectively define the characteristic balsamic, floral, spicy, woody, and fruity sensory notes of wampee. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis robustly segregated peel from flesh (R 2 Y = 0.833, Q 2 = 0.647), with 96 volatile metabolites significantly up-regulated in peel and enriched in monoterpene hydrocarbons. KEGG pathway enrichment—an indirect inference from volatile end-products—indicated that terpenoid backbone, monoterpenoid, and sesquiterpenoid/triterpenoid biosynthesis are the principal routes plausibly governing tissue-specific aroma formation. These findings establish a foundation for wampee quality assessment, cultivar authentication, and flavor-oriented breeding.
SN  - 2590-1575
ER  -