Study on the differences in aroma components and formation mechanisms of “Nasmi” melon from different production areas

Aroma is an important factor that guides consumers in purchasing and is thus very important in melon research. To our knowledge, the number of studies with a focus on the aroma differences of the same melon variety in different production areas is largely limited. In this study, the differences in aroma components of “Nasmi” melons from two different production regions were analyzed using gas‐phase ion migration spectroscopy. Transcriptome sequencing was performed for analyzing fragrance‐related genes. Results showed that there were significant differences in the aroma components between products from the two regions. The total amount of aroma compounds from the Turpan region (TT) was 1.7 times higher than that from the Altay region (AT). Through the analysis of transcriptome data, the key genes encoding melon aroma components in different regions were identified as ethanol dehydrogenase, 3‐hydroxyl‐coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase, acyl‐CoA oxidase, long‐chain acyl‐CoA synthetase, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, and acetyl‐CoA acyltransferase. Real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) showed that the verified genes were similar to the transcriptome. In this study, the main aroma components of the same variety of melon that differed in different production areas and the key genes causing these differences were identified. In addition, the aroma metabolic pathway of melon in different regions was preliminarily elucidated. These results could provide a theoretical basis for further study of the formation mechanism of melon aroma and breeding.