Amomum tsaoko is an important spice and medicinal plant widely utilized in East and Southeast Asia. Non-targeted metabolomics techniques were employed to study the variations in the content and composition of essential oil from A. tsaoko during drying at different temperatures: 40°C, 50°C, 60°C, and 70°C. A total of 260 metabolites were detected using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), mainly terpenoids and aldehydes. Cineole, the most important component, accumulated abundantly in samples dried at 50°C. A higher temperature (70°C) was conducive to the accumulation of aldehydes. Overall, the optimal drying condition for A. tsaoko was determined to be 50°C for 50 h. In addition, nine differential metabolites were screened using variable important in projection and p value (VIP > 1 and p < 0.05), which may serve as potential flavor markers to differentiate various drying treatments of A. tsaoko. This study provides a novel perspective on understanding the dynamic metabolites changes during the drying process, and establishes a theoretical foundation for the refinement and high-quality processing of A. tsaoko.
Keywords: Amomum tsaoko; GC–MS; different drying temperatures; drying process; metabolites.
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