Distinct terpene metabolite blends serve as core drivers of consumer aroma preferences in fir Christmas tree species

Real Christmas trees contribute ~$2.5 billion to the US economy annually. True fir (Abies spp.) are the most popular trees and account for the majority of sales. The real Christmas tree commodity board identified aroma as the primary driver for consumers to purchase a real tree. We conducted consumer aroma panels for five (Fraser, noble, Nordmann, Trojan, and concolor) of the most popular fir Christmas trees in the US. Based on aroma characteristics alone, Fraser fir was found to be most liked while noble fir ranked last amongst consumers. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy metabolite profiling of terpene (the major drivers of conifer aroma) putatively identified 132 mono- and sesquiterpene and 48 diterpene metabolites across all five species. Among these, the sesquiterpene, β-bisabolene, was strongly correlated with consumer liking. These findings provide a resource to identify compounds positively associated with consumer preference to help guide Christmas tree genetic improvement efforts.