Aromatic and proteomic analyses corroborate the distinction between Mediterranean landraces and modern varieties of durum wheat

TLDR

The subtle differences between VOC profiles of durum wheat cultivars and between kernel and wholemeal flour can be detected thanks to the high‑resolution PTR‑TOF‑MS, which can resolve signals down to pptv levels. The study aimed to characterize the VOC profiles of wholemeal flour and kernel to determine whether specific VOCs distinguish varieties and sample matrices. The authors analyzed VOCs from durum wheat cultivars and landraces using PTR‑TOF‑MS, performed SDS‑PAGE protein profiling of gliadins and glutenins, and applied SIMPER, Tanglegram, and other statistical methods to evaluate VOC signals, protein data, and the effect of grinding. The results demonstrate that samples can be described using combined VOC profiles and protein data.

Abstract

Abstract In this paper volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from durum wheat cultivars and landraces were analyzed using PTR-TOF-MS. The aim was to characterize the VOC’s profile of the wholemeal flour and of the kernel to find out if any VOCs were specific to varieties and sample matrices. The VOC data is accompanied by SDS-PAGE analyses of the storage proteins (gliadins and glutenins). Statistical analyses was carried out both on the signals obtained by MS and on the protein profiles. The difference between the VOC profile of two cultivars or two preparations of the same sample - matrices, in this case kernel vs wholemeal flour - can be very subtle; the high resolution of PTR-TOF-MS - down to levels as low as pptv - made it possible to recognize these differences. The effects of grinding on the VOC profiles were analyzed using SIMPER and Tanglegram statistical methods. Our results show that it is possible describe samples using VOC profiles and protein data.