Ambient orchard volatiles from California almonds

The volatile emissions of various plant parts of almonds have been studied via various techniques in the past. These analyses have typically been performed on single cultivars and hence may not be representative of the volatiles found in an entire almond orchard. Recent reports suggest some almond volatiles exhibit semiochemical activities for the navel orangeworm (NOW), a major insect pest of almonds; thus, the volatile composition of the comprehensive almond orchard would be helpful to research concerning NOW. The ambient volatile emissions of an almond orchard containing the cultivar Nonpareil and associated pollenizers were collected at four intervals during the 2009 growing season from orchards in the south Central Valley of California. The volatiles hexanal, octanal, nonanal, benzaldehyde, acetophenone, ethyl benzoate, methyl salicylate, and phenol were consistent in their presence and in relatively high amounts. The orchard volatile composition was analyzed via electroantennogram (EAG) analysis, which produced strong responses from NOW antennae. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd on behalf of Phytochemical Society of Europe.