Identification of volatile biomarkers for high-throughput sensing of soft rot and Pythium leak diseases in stored potatoes

•Volatile profiles of two potato varieties resulting from two rot pathogens were evaluated.•Soft rot and Pythium leak-based volatile compounds were assessed using GC techniques.•Biomarkers identified included n,n–dimethylmethylamine, 1–undecene, acetone, and styrene. Soft rot and Pythium leak are postharvest storage diseases of potato tubers that can cause substantial crop losses in the US. This study focused on detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with rot inoculated tubers during storage (up to 21 days) using headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography (GC) with mass spectrometry (MS) and flame ionization detector (FID) analysis. Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet tubers were inoculated with the rot pathogens. Static sampling with 50 min trapping time followed by GC–MS and GC–FID analysis identified 23 and 30 common VOCs from the pathogen inoculated tubers. Overall, n,n–dimethylmethylamine, acetone, 1–undecene, and styrene, occurred frequently and repeatability in inoculated samples based on GC–MS analysis, with the latter two found using GC–FID analysis as well. Identification of such biomarkers can be useful in developing high-throughput VOC sensing systems for early disease detection in potato storage facilities.