## Results and Discussion  
### Aroma-Active Volatiles of Wild Lowbush Blueberries  
Twenty-three aroma-active peaks that had average MF values > 25% were identified in wild lowbush blueberries using GC-O and represented twenty-five compounds (Table 1). Of these, eight were identified as esters, five alcohols, five ketones, four aldehydes, two terpen and one unknown. Most aroma-active compounds were found in fruit from all four provinces at similar MF values. All twenty-three peaks were detected in fruit from NS and QC. Geraniol and 3-heptanone were not detected in fruit from PE and (\(E\))-2-nonenal was not detected in fruit from NB. In addition, ethyl butanoate was only detected by GC-O in fruit from QC and had an MF value of 32.7% (data not shown). These differences may reflect genetic diversity in the wild blueberry fields from the different provinces [5]. Furthermore, differences in fruit maturity, environmental growing conditions in the different provinces and/or handling could impact aroma-active volatile synthesis and composition, which has been reported in rabbiteye and highbush blueberries [14; 15; 25]. Through GC-O analysis, the aroma-active peaks with the greatest MF values in wild lowbush blueberry fruit were identified as the esters ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, methyl 2-methylbutanoate, methyl 3-methylbutanoate, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate and ethyl propanoate, all having average MF values > 50% (Table 1). These compounds were described as \"fruity\" and \"sweet\" with three being described as \"blueberry\". The four branched-chain esters were abundant in wild lowbush blueberry fruit and comprised over 29% of the total volatile compounds, while the straight-chain ester ethyl propanoate only accounted for 0.13% (Table 2). All of these esters were previously reported among headspace volatiles collected from whole lowbush blueberry fruit except for methyl 2-methylbutanoate [26]. 3-Hexanone, which was found in low concentrations, coeluted with ethyl 2-methylbutanoate and may have contributed to the \"sweet\" and \"fruity\" aroma of this peak. Additional esters detected in this study by GC-O and contributing \"fruity\" and \"sweet\" aromas included methyl 2-pentenoate, ethyl 2-methylpropanoate and methyl 3-methyl-2-butenoate. [PERSON] et al. [26] also reported these esters in lowbush blueberry fruit. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Compound**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**RI**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**MF Value (\%)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Aroma Descriptors 2**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**ID Basis 3**} \\ \cline{3-8}  & & **NS** & **PE** & **NB** & **QC** & **Ave** \\ \hline Ethyl & & & & & & & & & \\
2-methylbutanoate/3-Hexanone & 1052 & 70.6 & 56.6 & 79.2 & 74.0 & 70.1 & & & \\ Methyl 2-methylbutanoate & 1012 & 72.1 & 59.6 & 73.0 & 67.1 & 68.0 & & \\ Methyl 3-methylbutanoate & 1022 & 64.5 & 60.3 & 49.3 & 66.1 & 60.1 & & \\ Ethyl 3-methylbutanoate & 1066 & 48.1 & 43.7 & 58.4 & 54.2 & 51.1 & & \\ Ethyl propanoate & 951 & 53.7 & 47.3 & 49.9 & 55.1 & 51.5 & & \\ (\(E\))-2-Hexen-1-ol & 1401 & 57.5 & 39.5 & 44.7 & 61.1 & 50.7 & & \\ (\(Z\))-3-Hexen-1-ol & 1378 & 52.5 & 46.9 & 52.3 & 47.3 & 49.8 & & \\
1-Octen-3-one/Methyl & 1303 & 64.5 & 30.1 & 51.6 & 49.9 & 49.0 & & \\
2-pentenoate 5  & 1303 & 64.5 & 30.1 & 51.6 & 49.9 & 49.0 & \\
2-Dodecanone & 1719 & 48.4 & 48.4 & 42.9 & 54.2 & 48.5 & & \\ Ethyl 2-methylpropanoate & 970 & 51.4 & 29.4 & 49.5 & 60.2 & 47.6 & & \\  & 1531 & 51.4 & 36.9 & 46.5 & 47.3 & 45.5 & & \\  & 1827 & 63.2 & 0.0 & 45.0 & 65.4 & 43.4 & & \\
2-Ethyl-1-hexanol & 1504 & 44.2 & 23.1 & 35.8 & 59.9 & 40.7 & & \\ Unknown 786 & 786 & 40.0 & 29.7 & 39.0 & 46.2 & 38.7 & & \\  & 1226 & 20.7 & 51.4 & 21.9 & 48.4 & 35.6 & & \\  & 1031 & 25.3 & 37.9 & 27.1 & 46.2 & 34.1 & & \\ Hexanal & 1087 & 32.7 & 31.0 & 20.7 & 48.1 & 33.1 & & \\  & 1245 & 32.7 & 30.6 & 21.9 & 47.1 & 33.1 & & \\  & 1152 & 23.1 & 0.0 & 49.4 & 35.8 & 27.1 & & \\  & 1541 & 42.2 & 31.0 & 0.0 & 34.6 & 26.9 & & \\  & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}