ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1640218
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Volatile Organic Compounds in Fruits and Flowers: Aroma, Biosynthesis, and Ecological ImpactView all 12 articles
Biochemical Mechanisms Underlying the Differences in Fruit Characteristics Among Three Kumquat Varieties
Provisionally accepted
- Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
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To elucidate different fruit trait mechanisms among Changshou (FOT) (Fortunella obovata Tanaka), Liuyang (FCSLY) (Fortunella crassifolia Swingle), and Huapi (FCSHP) (Fortunella crassifolia Swingle) kumquats, fruit traits, and their metabolite compositions were comprehensively analyzed. The main factors affecting fruit sweetness and bitterness are the sucrose and limonin contents. Differential metabolite analysis showed that FOT peels had the highest redness and more up-regulated anthocyanin and carotenoid compounds. Therefore, anthocyanin and carotenoid metabolites were related to the kumquat peel color. FOT peels had the highest flavonoid content. A total of 1719 metabolites were identified using non-targeted metabolomics, Flavonoid metabolites are more abundant in kumquat peels than in seeds, so the peel’s medicinal value is higher. The total limonin content in seeds is higher than in peels, so the seeds are used as raw materials for extracting limonin compounds. This study analyzed the biochemical mechanisms of fruit trait differences in three kumquat (Fortunella Swingle) varieties and provided a reference for targeted kumquat development and utilization.
Keywords: Traits, non-targeted metabolomics, flavor, Sucrose, Limonin, Flavonoids, Active ingredients
Received: 03 Jun 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Yi, Shang, Zhu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Manti Li, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
Hongmei Huang, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
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