3.1. Chemical Characterization of Essential Oils
The chemical profiles of essential oils (EO) were determined, as shown in
Table A1 (given in
Appendix A). Fifty-nine compounds were identified by GC–MS, which accounted for 67.4–98.4% of the EO composition. These constituents, their retention indices, and their abundances are listed in
Table A2 (given in
Appendix A). The volatile metabolites have been grouped into six classes based on their functions (hydrocarbons, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, and others).
The representation of the abundances of the different constituent families, represented in
Figure A1 (given in
Appendix A), allowed us to observe that the global contents remain similar with a few exceptions (accessions 4, 6, 7, 28, and 29). No year-related impact is observed regarding these six classes. Despite these similarities, significant variations can be observed within the hydrocarbon class, particularly for the contents of seven compounds known for their impact on hops’ aroma [
20,
21,
22] (in
italic in
Table A1 and
Table A2): C2 myrcene (
tr—28.3%), C9 (
E)-β-caryophyllene (0.3–30.1%), C12 (
E)-β-farnesene (
tr—26.6%), C13 α-humulene (0.1–29.1%), C17 β-selinene (0.5–26.6%), C18 zingiberene (
tr—22.1%), and C20 α-selinene (
tr—23.6%).
The relative abundances of these compounds averaged in
Table 3 are different from those exposed in a recent study on Italian wild hops [
23], especially for the zingiberene, which is not detected in Italian population. These differences highlight a singular volatile profile of Corsican wild accessions among Mediterranean hops. Moreover, the very high standard deviations are evidence of strong dissimilarities between the samples, which means that there is a great quantitative variability within the studied territory.
3.2. Statistical Analyses—Year-to-Year Variability
Chemical characterization of essential oils shows a great quantitative variability. To determine the variables that can be described as discriminant factors influencing these dissimilarities, several batches of statistical analyses were performed using the RStudio software. In the PCA performed and illustrated in
Figure 1, the thirty-nine accessions (1–39) are shown in black, and the fifty-nine volatile compounds as variables (C1–C59) are shown in blue. The two dimensions selected express a total of 72.5% of total variance, which seems fairly significant considering the diversity of the parameters and the size of the data set analyzed.
A differentiation emerges between two groups of accessions according to their abundances in (
E)-β-caryophyllene (C9), β-selinene (C17), and α-selinene (C20) for the first group, and in myrcene (C2), (
E)-β-farnesene (C12), and α-humulene (C13) for the second. Zingiberene’s (C18) discrimination pattern is difficult to read because of the influence of other minor compounds that are not well represented by the two dimensions shown here. Therefore, another analysis was performed, focusing on the seven compounds mentioned above (
Figure 2). In this figure, the thirty-nine accessions (1–39) are shown in black, and the seven volatile compounds as variables are shown in blue.
The PCA represented in
Figure 2 seems to show a new differentiation pattern between four groups of accessions according to their abundance in β-selinene (C17) and α-selinene (C20) for the first group, (
E)-β-farnesene (C12) and α-humulene (C13) for the second, myrcene (C2) for the third, and possibly zingiberene (C18) for the fourth. This last group is only composed of the accession Corte 2020 (2). These observations could depict a great chemical variability within Corsican wild hops.
This biplot also shows a great dissimilarity between some samples from the same locations but harvested over different years (e.g., Corte (1, 2, 3); Canale di Verde (4, 5, 6)) and could, therefore, highlight a temporal variability. However, it is important to mention that the significance of this PCA is not optimal considering the relatively poor representativity of the two dimensions (68.7%) expressed in this plot. Moreover, in this particular projection, the variables are relatively close to the center, indicating that their representation following these principal components is not great. Year-to-year chemical variability shows little to no clear pattern and suggests that essential oils compositions are certainly influenced by localized climatic phenomena.
3.3. Statistical Analyses—Geographical Diversity
To comprehend geographical diversity, another principal components analysis was performed. Potential biases caused by year-to-year variability were limited by averaging the chemical profiles of the accessions depending on their harvesting site. The biplot obtained from the whole volatile profile is illustrated in
Figure 3. In this figure, the thirteen locations are shown in black, and the fifty-nine volatile compounds as variables (C1–C59) are shown in blue.
In this representation, Corte, Sortipiani, and Venzolasca appear to show great similarity following their abundance in β-selinene (C17), zingiberene (C18), and α-selinene (C20). These three accessions appear to grow at medium altitude in the same river basin (Tavignanu). Urbino, Lucciana, and Canale di Verde profiles seem highly comparable depending on their abundance in (E)-β-farnesene (C12). To a lesser extent, Casaperta and Santa-Maria-Poggio show high similarity following their abundance in myrcene (C2). The other accessions seem equally impacted by the seven discriminant compounds. These results allow us to theorize a possible variation in olfactive bouquets of essential oils obtained from the four groups described above.
In hops, α-selinene and α-humulene are known to express woody notes, (
E)-β-farnesene and myrcene herbal–citrus notes, β-selinene herbal notes, (
E)-β-caryophyllene spicy notes of cloves, and zingiberene rare spicy notes of ginger [
20,
21,
22].
Table 4 gives an estimation of the flavor notes of Corsican wild hops depending on their volatile profile and the literature [
20,
21,
22].
As shown in
Table 4, noteworthy high contents of zingiberene are only found in hops growing at medium altitude (130–400 m) away from the coast, which are areas characterized by specific pedoclimatic conditions (e.g., salinity).
The essential oils were submitted to a trained panel for olfactory and sensory analyzes. The averaged results are shown in
Figure 4. Tropical fruit notes were studied by the panel as a common olfactory marker of hops but were not detected in Corsican wild hops, nor was 3-mercaptohexanol (a usual marker of this note) among the constituents of essential oils (
Table A1). The blind olfactive analyzes of essential oils were triplicated, then all the scores from 0 to 5 for each accession were averaged and represented into aroma wheels.
For readability purposes, stations were grouped by type of aromatic profile according to their scores for the five studied scents. These profiles corroborate the estimated fragrance notes from chemical composition and the literature, presented in
Table 4. Here again, three groups are formed (
Figure 4): spicy and herbal and woody notes; medium notes with an equilibrated ratio between all scents except “tropical fruit”; and herbal and citrus notes. These results confirm the relation between the chemical composition and the olfactive profiles of Corsican hops, which both appear to be influenced by pedoclimatic conditions, altitude, and distance to the seashore.
To illustrate more clearly the similarities and dissimilarities between these stations and correlate them to environmental parameters, another statistical analysis was performed on the essential oils’ chemical composition using a dissimilarity matrix (Euclidean distance) and depicted as a dendrogram (
Figure 5).
In
Figure 5, two groups of samples (essential oils) share 78% of similarity. The first group is composed of the four accessions of
Corte, Sortipiani, Casaperta, and
Venzolasca, all of them located at medium altitude (80–400 m) inside the land. The second group is composed of the other accessions, all of them growing at low altitude levels (0–30 m) near the coastline. This observation could demonstrate the influence of altitude and possibly of salinity on the EOs profiles from Corsican wild hops. Within this group, a second differentiation emerges, with 54% of dissimilarity between
Ajaccio, Porto-Pollo, and
Propriano, all three located in the south–west part of the island on granitic soils, and the other accessions located in the north–east part of the island on sedimentary soils (
Table 1). This observation could also highlight the influence of pedology on the EOs from Corsican wild hops.
3.4. Statistical Analysis—All Environmental Factors
To comprehend the compounds that are influenced by environmental factors, two-way ANOVAs were carried out between the seven discriminant compounds described earlier and parameters such as year, proximity to the sea, and pedology. The corresponding
p-values are shown in
Table 5.
In
Table 5, the influence of the year of growth is only considered significant (
p-value < 0.05) on the (
E)-β-farnesene abundance. This could mean that the annual variability, probably induced by seasonal climatic conditions, can influence its concentration in hops volatile fraction and, by extension, the expression of a herbal–citrus aroma profile. This could mean that, for a same cultivar, the herbal–citrus predominance in a Corsican hopped beer might vary depending on the year of harvest. It is important to note that hops follow a strict annual cycle, with a vegetative state during winter season. Therefore, cones produced every year might be greatly influenced by seasonal changes observed at such small temporal scale. Future work must focus on the study of correlation between annual climatic data (such as pluviometry, mean temperature, or drought extent) and chemical composition of Corsican wild hops essential oils. Sampling over a longer period could also be considered.
The influence of proximity to the sea is significant for all compounds (especially α -selinene) except (E)-β-farnesene and zingiberene (p-values = 0.408 and 0.106, respectively). This result is unexpected regarding the high amounts of zingiberene detected in hops growing in altitude and relatively far from the coast (e.g., Corte). Therefore, altitude and salinity might not be the factors influencing the chemical particularity of these hops. On the other hand, the pedology factor is highly significant for all compounds (including zingiberene) except α-humulene and myrcene. Corte is a location with quite unique soil (schistous/granitic) and the great amounts of zingiberene could actually be dependent on pedology.
It was previously proven that the aroma profiles of Corsican hops’ essential oils are influenced by their chemical composition.
Table 6 summarizes the scents that are believed to be influenced by the studied environmental factors.
The ANOVAs referred to in
Table 5, as well as the other statistical analyzes presented in previous sections of this work, tend to prove the impact of environmental factors on the chemical composition of Corsican wild hops and, by extension, on their aroma profile.
3.5. Valorization in Food Industry
The chemical and sensory analyzes of the essential oils of Corsican hops have been of great importance in determining their brewing potential. Each growing station and their associated pedoclimatic conditions seem to exert an influence on the aroma profile. The abundance of zingiberene is remarkable. This compound, as well as its particularly desirable spicy profile, is found to a lesser extent in most commercial cultivars. Thus, commercially brewed Corsican hops could lead to the emergence of a highly typical organoleptic bouquet singular to Corsican beers and induced by these high zingiberene concentrations. In addition, their harvest would allow breweries outside Corsica to obtain ginger–spicy beers.
The impact of
terroir on the aroma of Corsican hops has been described in this study. However, the brewing process is known to thermally and microbiologically alter certain organoleptic compounds [
24], and further studies are needed to confirm these possible impacts on the aroma of beers. In association with local breweries, future prospections could be conceptualized on beer samples made with the thirteen different accessions used in this article. A new panel could then be formed and trained for sensory analysis of beverages. It is important to specify that the correlation between the aromatic profile of Italian hops and that of the beers brewed with them is already known in the food industry [
15].
The industrial development of the 20th century led to a steady decline in the use of natural raw materials, particularly in the world of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and the food industry. As climate change and the availability of resources become more problematic, to limit their environmental impact, today’s consumers tend to rethink their consumption modes patterns through local economy and the use of proximity products. The brewing world is no exception to this remodeling. By depicting their aroma profile, this article might enable Corsican breweries to use local wild hops as raw material. Following this work, we created the very first Corsican hop farm near the north coastline of the island. More than 2000 rhizomes were planted in the immediate vicinity of a brewery, which made it possible to study the impact of Corsican
terroir on the cultivation of wild hops and foreign cultivars [
11].