Horticulturists are interested in evaluating how cultivar, environment, or production system inputs can affect postharvest quality. Ambient mass spectrometry approaches enable analysis of minimally processed samples under ambient conditions and offer an attractive high-throughput alternative for assessing quality characteristics in plant products. Here, we evaluate direct analysis in real time (DART-MS) mass spectrometry and rapid evaporative ionization-mass spectrometry (REIMS) to assess quality characteristics in various pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars. DART-MS exhibited the ability to discriminate between pod colors and pungency based on chemical fingerprints, while REIMS could distinguish pepper market class (e.g., bell, lunchbox, and popper). Furthermore, DART-MS analysis resulted in the putative detection of important bioactive compounds in human diet such as vitamin C, p-coumaric acid, and capsaicin. The results of this study demonstrate the potential for these approaches as accessible and reliable tools for high throughput screening of pepper quality.

中文翻译：

---

评价用于评估采后辣椒固有品质的环境质谱工具

园艺家有兴趣评估品种、环境或生产系统投入如何影响采后质量。环境质谱方法可以在环境条件下分析最少处理的样品，并为评估植物产品的质量特性提供有吸引力的高通量替代方案。在这里，我们评估了实时直接分析 (DART-MS) 质谱法和快速蒸发电离质谱法 (REIMS) 以评估各种辣椒的质量特征。辣椒L.) 栽培品种。DART-MS 展示了基于化学指纹区分豆荚颜色和辛辣味的能力，而 REIMS 可以区分辣椒市场类别（例如铃铛、午餐盒和波普尔）。此外，DART-MS 分析导致推定检测到人类饮食中的重要生物活性化合物，如维生素 C、p-香豆酸和辣椒素。这项研究的结果证明了这些方法作为高通量筛选辣椒质量的可访问和可靠工具的潜力。