Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) fruits: Potential characterization of flavor and functional profiles during ripening based on UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS

As a 'superfruit', the sour and astringent flavor of lingonberries seriously limits consumer acceptance and unravelling the intrinsic link between specific flavor and chemical constituents is urgent. This study proposed a comparative qualitative and quantitative analysis for flavor and functional phytochemicals in lingonberry fruits based on UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). After systematic MRM parameters optimization, the developed method showed good precision (RSD < 4.4%) and recovery (99.89 similar to 105.21%) within 6 min. The results revealed the distribution of 18 flavor and functional components of lingonberries during different ripening periods. In addition, it was surprisingly found that citric acid (7.94-15.58 mg/g DW) and (+)-catechin (0.52-4.13 mg/g DW) were the components contributing to the sour and astringent flavor of lingonberries, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside (0.48-4.17 mg/g DW) was the primary component affecting color, and benzoic acid (3.67-19.45 mg/g DW) was the typical functional component. Furthermore, biosynthetic gene transcript levels showed positive correlations with the chemical composition metabolic profile in lingonberry fruits at different ripening stages. In conclusion, this work provided a rapid and sensitive analysis and the dynamic changes of flavor and functional phytochemicals for quality control, optimal harvesting time and application of lingonberry fruits.