Abstract
The Rosa chinensis cultivars Rosa Lvye, Rosa Knock out, Rosa Parade and Slater’scrimson China were analyzed for the volatile chemical composition in their flower petals. Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) was applied to extract volatile flavors, and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC) and quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometry (MS) were used for chemical profiling, including quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Rosa cultivars. A total of 97 volatile compounds were identified and 38 to 67 compounds were identified in each cultivar. The total concentrations of the extracted volatile compounds in the four cultivars were Rosa Knock out (750.21 ± 45.06 μg/g) > Rosa Parade (714.02 ± 6.94 μg/g) > Rosa Lvye (558.11 ± 9.08 μg/g) > Slater’s crimson China (436.86 ± 3.21 μg/g). This study provides a specific chromatographic fingerprint for the Rosa chinensis cultivars, which can be applied in differentiation of the fragrance and aroma constituents.