Fruit worldwide are prone to insect damage, particularly from the Tephritidae fruit flies. The Queensland fruit fly (“QFF”, Bactrocera tryoni) is one of the worst economic pests in the Pacific. Females oviposit in a wide variety of fruit and larvae develop inside the flesh with minimal external visual damage early upon infestation. The export of infested fruit into pest-free zones is one of the main pathways of pest incursion. The ability to detect infested fruit early can prevent an incursion, reduce the risk of spread and advise upon fruit quality. With the aim of detecting early QFF infestation, we investigated whether volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could be used as biomarkers. Five types of fruit were exposed to QFF and volatiles were collected at days 1 and 5 after infestation. After chemical analysis and compound identification, classification models were employed to identify volatile predictors. There were no common volatile biomarkers for all QFF infested fruit, but a combination of fruit-specific volatile biomarkers could reach up to 100 % detection of infestation at specific times. Infestations of papaya and tomato were detectable from day 1 with high accuracy (90 and 100 % respectively). Infestations of nectarine and fig were detectable from day 5 with 80 and 90 % accuracy. Early infestation of capsicum with QFF could not be reliably detected based on our models. The strong interaction between time and infestation for all fruit types requires the selection of a suite of fruit-specific volatile biomarkers for the future development of an odorant-based sensor for detection of QFF infestation.

世界范围内的水果都容易受到昆虫的伤害，尤其是from科实蝇。昆士兰果蝇（“ QFF”，Bactrocera tryoni）是太平洋上最严重的经济害虫之一。雌虫在果肉内发育成各种各样的水果和幼虫，在侵染早期，其外部视觉损害最小。将受侵染的水果出口到非疫区是虫害入侵的主要途径之一。尽早发现受侵染的水果的能力可以防止入侵，降低蔓延的风险并建议水果质量。为了检测早期QFF感染，我们研究了挥发性有机化合物（VOC）是否可以用作生物标记。在侵染后的第1天和第5天，将五种水果暴露于QFF并收集挥发物。经过化学分析和化合物鉴定后，采用分类模型鉴定挥发性预测因子。QFF侵染的所有水果均没有常见的挥发性生物标志物，但是在特定时间，结合水果特有的挥发性生物标记物可以达到100％的侵染率。从第1天开始就可以高精度地检测到木瓜和番茄的侵染（分别为90％和100％）。从第5天开始可以检测到油桃和无花果的侵染，准确率分别为80％和90％。根据我们的模型，无法可靠地检测到QFF对辣椒的早期侵染。对于所有类型的水果而言，时间与侵扰之间的强烈相互作用要求选择一套针对水果的挥发性生物标记，以用于未来基于气味的传感器来检测QFF侵扰。从第1天开始就可以高精度地检测到木瓜和番茄的侵染（分别为90％和100％）。从第5天开始可以检测到油桃和无花果的侵染，准确率分别为80％和90％。根据我们的模型，无法可靠地检测到QFF对辣椒的早期侵染。对于所有类型的水果而言，时间与侵扰之间的强烈相互作用要求选择一套针对水果的挥发性生物标记，以用于未来基于气味的传感器来检测QFF侵扰。从第1天开始就可以高精度地检测到木瓜和番茄的侵染（分别为90％和100％）。从第5天开始可以检测到油桃和无花果的侵染，准确率分别为80％和90％。根据我们的模型，无法可靠地检测到QFF对辣椒的早期侵染。对于所有类型的水果而言，时间与侵扰之间的强烈相互作用要求选择一套针对水果的挥发性生物标记，以用于未来基于气味的传感器来检测QFF侵扰。