CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Volatile compounds released by plants are airborne cues used by pest species to recognize their hosts. Codling moth (Cydia pomonella: Tortricide) is an oligophagous pest of pome fruits such as apple, pear and quince (Cydonia oblonga). Pest attack causes chemical changes in the volatile profile of fruits with a concomitant decline of the fruit quality. In turn, these chemical changes may carry messages to pests indicating the nutritional status of the host. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of damage by codling moth on the volatile profile of different varieties of Quince (Cydonia oblonga). We performed an experimental design on four varieties of Quince from a collection of the INTA-Pocito (San Juan, Argentina) at spring of the year 2013. At the beginning of the fruit ripening we covered one branch with fabric bags to prevent the pest infestation. At the end of fruit ripening, protected fruits as well as fruits exposed to wild population of codling moth were sampled. Volatiles were extracted by SPME and analyzed GC-MS. Up to 13 compounds were identified in the volatile profiles amounting from 90.9 to 98.4%. The different varieties of Quince presented similar chemical profiles. Farnesene and Octanoic acid, ethyl ester, were the main volatile components of the four varieties studied. Damaged fruits presented the same components than healthy fruits and slight quantitative differences were observed. Pear Ester (Ethyl (2E,4Z)-2,4-decadienoate), the volatile of apple and pears recognized as the attractant of codling moth was detected in the volatiles profiles of the four varieties of Quince. Acknowledgments. To FONCyT (PICT 2013-2076), To INTA-Pocito-San Juan. LML, DS are research scientists of CONICET. FJB is a fellow of CONICET