Distribution of volatile composition in 'marion' ( rubus species hyb) blackberry pedigree.

The distribution of volatile constituents in ancestral genotypes of 'Marion' blackberry's pedigree was investigated over two growing seasons. Each genotype in the pedigree had a specific volatile composition. Red raspberry was dominated by norisoprenoids, lactones, and acids. 'Logan' and 'Olallie' also had a norisoprenoid dominance but at much lower concentrations. The concentration of norisoprenoids in other blackberry genotypes was significantly lower. Terpenes and furanones were predominant in wild 'Himalaya' blackberry, whereas terpenes were the major volatiles in 'Santiam'. 'Marion', a selection from 'Chehalem' and 'Olallie', contained almost all of the volatile compounds in its pedigree at moderate amount. The chiral isomeric ratios of 11 pairs of compounds were also studied. Strong chiral isomeric preference was observed for most of the chiral compounds, and each cultivar had its unique chiral isomeric distribution. An inherent pattern was observed for some volatile compounds in the 'Marion' pedigree. Raspberry and 'Logan' had a very high concentration of beta-ionone, but was reduced by half in 'Olallie' and by another half in 'Marion' as the crossing proceeded. A high content of linalool in 'Olallie' and a low content in 'Chehalem' resulted in a moderate content of linalool in their progeny 'Marion'. However, the concentration of furaneol in 'Marion' was higher than in its parents. A high content of (S)-linalool in 'Olallie' and a racemic content of (S)-,(R)-linalool in 'Chehalem' resulted in a preference for the (S)-form in 'Marion'.