Volatile analyses of cacti have previously been performed on the flowers, fruits, and consumed stems. During our own investigations, we and others have observed that the cut stems of certain species of the Graveolens clade of Cylindropuntia emitted odors similar to those of rancid butter or cyanoacrylate. Some species of Consolea, Opuntia, Quiabentia, and Tacinga were found to produce similar odors. Fresh samples of Cylindropuntia and these other genera were collected, and the volatile compound profiles were analyzed by solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Linear discriminate analysis found the compounds to be characteristic of the odiferous cacti as the aldehydes hexanal, 2-hexenal, and nonanal; the alcohol phenethyl alcohol; the terpene β-phellandrene; the ketone β-ionone; and the diol 5-pentyl-1,3-benzenediol. Compounds characteristic of the non-odiferous cacti are the ketones 6-methyl-2-heptanone, 2-octanone, and 1,3-dihydro-5-methyl-2H-benzimidazol-2-one; the alkanes undecane, tridecane, pentadecane, and heptadecane; the aromatics p-cymene and 1,2,3,5-tetramethyl benzene; the esters octyl formate, methyl benzoate, and methyl salicylate; the aldehyde 2-octenal; the alcohol cyclooctyl alcohol; the imine methoxy-phenyl-oxime; the terpene 1-methyl-2-(2-propenyl)-benzene; and nine unknown compounds. Putative hybrid cacti were found to have a unique volatile profile in comparison to the parents. Additionally, differing infraspecific chromosome races, diploids (n = 11) and tetraploids (n = 22), were found to have differing volatile profiles with some compounds increasing with an increase in chromosome number while other compounds decreased with an increase in chromosome number.

之前已经对花、果实和消耗的茎进行了仙人掌的挥发性分析。在我们自己的调查中，我们和其他人观察到，Cylindropuntia的Graveolens进化枝的某些物种的切茎散发出类似于腐臭黄油或氰基丙烯酸酯的气味。发现某些种类的Consolea、Opuntia、Quiabentia和Tacinga会产生类似的气味。Cylindropuntia 的新鲜样品并收集这些其他属，并通过固相微萃取气相色谱质谱法分析挥发性化合物谱。线性判别分析发现这些化合物是具有气味的仙人掌的特征，如醛类己醛、2-己烯醛和壬醛；醇苯乙醇；萜烯β-水芹烯；酮β-紫罗兰酮；和二醇5-戊基-1,3-苯二醇。无味仙人掌的特征化合物是酮类 6-甲基-2-庚酮、2-辛酮和 1,3-二氢-5-甲基-2H-苯并咪唑-2-酮；烷烃十一烷、十三烷、十五烷和十七烷；芳香剂p-伞花烃和 1,2,3,5-四甲基苯；甲酸辛酯、苯甲酸甲酯和水杨酸甲酯；醛2-辛烯醛；醇环辛醇；亚胺甲氧基苯基肟；萜烯1-甲基-2-(2-丙烯基)-苯；和九种未知化合物。与亲本相比，假定的杂交仙人掌具有独特的挥发性特征。此外，发现不同的种下染色体种族、二倍体 ( n  = 11) 和四倍体 ( n  = 22) 具有不同的挥发性特征，一些化合物随着染色体数量的增加而增加，而其他化合物则随着染色体数量的增加而减少。