Emission of 2-phenylethanol from its β-d-glucopyranoside and the biogenesis of these compounds from [2H8] l-phenylalanine in rose flowers

The hydrolysis of 2-phenylethyl β-d-glucopyranoside () was found to be partially inhibited by feeding with 2-phenyl-N-glucosyl-acetamidiumbromide (), a β-glucosidase inhibitor, resulting in a decrease in the diurnal emission of 2-phenylethanol () from Rosa damascena Mill. flowers. Detection of and from R. ‘Hoh-Jun’ flowers fed with suggested that β-glucosidase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and reductase might be involved in scent emission. Comprehensive GC-SIM analyses revealed that and must be biosynthesized from [1,2,2,2′,3′,4′,5′6′-2H8] l-phenylalanine () with a retention of the deuterium atom at α-position of .