The Difference of Volatile Compounds in Female and Male Buds of Trichosanthes anguina L. Based on HS-SPME-GC-MS and Multivariate Statistical Analysis.

Trichosanthes anguina L. (family Cucurbitaceae) is a monoecious and diclinous plant that can be consumed as a vegetable and has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. The chemical composition and content of volatile compounds in female and male buds of T . anguina were explored by headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) technology combined with multivariate statistical analysis. The results showed that the content of the volatile compounds was different between female and male buds. 2,2,6-trimethyl-6-vinyltetrahydro-2H-pyran-3-ol and 2,2,6-trimethyl-6-vinyldihydro-2H-pyran-3(4H)-one were the main volatile compounds in both female and male buds. Based on the multivariate statistical analysis of orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and t -test, the content of seven compounds was significantly different between female and male buds. The content of three compounds in male buds was higher than that in female, i.e., ( E )-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene, 1,5,9,9-tetramethyl-1,4,7-cycloundecatriene, and ( E )-caryophyllene. Conversely, the content of ( Z )-4-hexen-1-ol, ( Z )-3-hexenyl benzoate, ( Z )-3-hexenyl salicylate, and 2-hexen-1-ol in female buds was higher than that in male buds. This is the first report on the difference in the volatile compounds between female and male buds of T . anguina , which enriches the basic research on the monoecious and diclinous plant and provides a reference for the study of plant sex differentiation.