The sensory and metabolome characteristics of dried Junzao (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) from different producing areas

To reveal the quality differences of dried jujube from different producing areas and explain the argument about the ‘origin-quality’ of fruits, physical measurements, texture profile analysis, and metabolomics were used to analyze the appearance, texture, and metabolites in dried Junzao. Results showed that Shufu Junzao (SF-JZ) had the best color and Wensu Junzao (WS-JZ) had the best texture. A total of 983 metabolites were identified in dried Junzao. And 254–291 differential metabolites were found between Taigu Junzao (TG-JZ) and Xinjiang Junzao (XJ-JZ), with 91 common differential metabolites, mainly saccharides, phenolic acids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and amino acids. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed the key differential pathways were starch and sucrose metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. The quality evaluation indicated that WS-JZ had the best sensory quality, TG-JZ and Cele Junzao (CL-JZ) with best nutritional quality and health value, SF-JZ had better flavor, the overall quality was best in WS-JZ and Kuerle Junzao (KEL-JZ), indicating that Wensu and Kuerle may be high-quality planting sites for Junzao in Xinjiang. Finally, 22 biomarkers were screened for dried Junzao's traceability and origin discrimination. Theoretical resources for the high-quality growth, cultivation, and exploitation of jujubes from various places are provided by this work.