High-Throughput Flavor Analysis and Mapping of Flavor Alterations Induced by Different Genotypes of by Means of UHPLC-MS/MS.

The demand for mint is increasing from year to year, and it is more important than ever to secure a sustainable and robust supply of such an important plant. The USDA mint core collection provides the basis for many researches worldwide regarding, e.g.

Diploid mint (M. longifolia) can produce spearmint type oil with a high yield potential.

Mint oil is a key source of natural flavors with wide industrial applications. Two unbalanced polyploid cultivars named Native (Mentha Spicata L) and Scotch (M. × gracilis Sole) are the main producers of spearmint type oil, which is characterized by high levels of the monoterpenes (-)-carvone and (-)-limonene.

A high throughput toolbox for comprehensive flavor compound mapping in mint.

Essential oils of the genus Mentha are extensively used as flavor ingredients in the industry. To overcome the time consuming and laborious traditional flavor analysis, a new quick, high-throughput toolbox based on a bead-beater homogenization followed by a UHPLC-MS/MS analysis has been developed and validated. While terpenes could be directly detected using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), carbonyl compounds and alcohols required derivatization by 3-nitrophenylhydrazine (3-NPH) and glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMA) to ensure sufficient sensitivity for analysis of a single leaf.