Altitude Variation in Volatile Composition of Blueberry Leaf Analyzed by SPME GC-MS

Background: The present work was aimed to carry out volatile component analyzes in Vaccinium arctostaphlyos L., V. uliginosum L., V. vitis-idaea L. and V. myrtillus L leaf growing at different altitudes of the East Blacksea Region of Turkey. Methods: The leaf of Vaccinium species were harvested from twenty-one different altitudes (748-3035 m) from six cities (Artvin- Ardahan-Rize-Trabzon-Gumushane-Giresun) of Turkey. The diversity of volatiles in the leaf was investigated by SPME GC-FID/MS. Results: The major constituents of the Vaccinium leaf showed variation with changes in altitudes. The identified volatile components of V. arctostaphlyos and V. uliginosum were represented mainly by aldehydes in all altitudes, whereas monoterpenes were found the major constituent of V. vitis-idaea at Posof-Ardahan (2376 m) and Artvin (2553 m) samples. In all altitudes, capronaldehyde (7.23-28.96%) and 2(E)-hexenal (8.90-53.59%) in the leaf of V. arctostaphlyos; capronaldehyde (17.04-37.09%) and limonene (16.50- 47.51%) in the leaf of V. vitis-idaea and capronaldehyde (4.55-39.90%), 2(E)-hexenal (25.08-80.99%) and hexadecane (2.97-11.32%) in the leaf of V. uliginosum; and capronaldehyde (14.66-37.26%) and 2(E)-hexenal (18.18-37.59%) at the altitudes of 1912m, 2533 m and 2565 m in the leaf of V. myrtillus were the major constituents with the different percentages, respectively. 2-Bornanone (32.86%) at the altitude of 2613 m and 3-penten- 2-one (93.60%) at the altitude of 2811m in the leaf of V. myrtillus were found to be the major compounds. Conclusion: Comparisons of the volatile components of V. arctostaphlyos, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea and V. myrtillus in different sites showed significant differences among populations at different altitudes.