The influence of the cultivation environment on the fragrance of cyclamens

Abstract

The scent of scented cyclamen flowers weakens when the plants are displayed for long periods, and this phenomenon is affected by the environment in which the plants are displayed. Counteracting environmental effects on scent intensity requires an understanding of floral scent emission during display. Here, we used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and sensory analysis to evaluate the influence of light intensity on floral scent emission from scented cyclamens kept indoors and in a greenhouse. For the greenhouse cyclamen, odour intensity was nearly constant throughout the study period. In contrast, the odour intensity of the indoor plants had decreased by 13 days after flowering, and the odour intensities of the indoor and greenhouse cyclamen differed significantly. Rank correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between odour intensity as determined by sensory analysis and the total amount of volatile compounds released as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. That is, the sensory analysis results could be explained in terms of the emission amounts of odour compounds.

Keywords

• cyclamen
• effect of light
• odour compound
• sensory analysis
• volatile