Comprehensive analysis of taste attributes and metabolite profiles reveals taste diversity among flowering stalk varieties.

Flowering stalk is a specialty vegetable that is highly valued for its unique taste; however, the taste metabolic diversity of different flowering stalk varieties has rarely been investigated. This study aimed to improve the understanding of taste quality in different varieties of flowering stalk by investigating the correlation between taste attributes and metabolite profiles through electronic tongue, sensory evaluation and widely targeted metabolomics techniques. GD exhibited the most favorable taste profile, characterized by high umami intensity and low levels of bitterness and astringency among five varieties. A total of 2747 metabolites were identified by widely targeted metabolomics, and 55 metabolites were down-regulated and 109 metabolites were up-regulated in GD compared with the other four varieties, including umami-related amino acid compounds, bitter-related alkaloid, terpenoid and glucosinolate compounds, and astringency-related polyphenol and flavonoid compounds. These findings enrich the metabolic information of flowering stalk and provide a theoretical basis for the taste optimization.