Metabolomic profiling of novel muskmelon cultigens reveals regional variation in fruit composition across four U.S. growing locations

Understanding the role of crop management, environmental conditions, and genotypes is critical for improving the yield and quality of agricultural products. Here, we evaluated the phytochemical compositions of eight newly developed muskmelon (Cucumis melo) cultigens grown at four locations (Texas, California, Arizona, and Indiana) in the United States. All the cultigens had total soluble solids contents higher than 10 °Brix, except for fruits grown in Indiana. The soluble sugars (glucose, fructose, and sucrose) among the samples averaged 22.6 %, 35.7 %, and 41.7 %, respectively. β-carotene was the prominent carotenoid, and its content ranged between 13.4 ± 1.1–37.6 ± 3.8 µg/g FW. Lower levels of colorless carotenoids phytoene and phytofluene were also quantified. The four most prominent amino acids were glutamine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and γ-aminobutyric acid, which were present in higher concentrations compared with other amino acids in all cultigens. A principal component analysis of studied quality attributes differentiated two muskmelon cultigens (TH1 and TH6) by growing location. This information will be important for researchers and breeders to develop better yield and quality of muskmelon.