Fructose is the most uptaken sugar for (-)-carvone biosynthesis in Mentha spicata L.

Mentha spicata L. cuttings were fed in vivo with C-14-palmitate, C-14-aceta te, C-14-sucrose, C-14-glucose, and C-14-fructose. No labelled (-)-carvone was detected when cuttings were fed with C-14-palmitate and/or C-14-acetate , whereas feeding of cuttings with C-14-sucrose, 14C-glucose, and C-14-fruc tose resulted in labelled (-)-carvone biosynthesis. Among sugars, fructose feeding caused the highest (-)-carvone biosynthesis. The lack of incorporat ion of exogenous C-14-palmitate and/or C-14-acetate into (-)-carvone and th e incorporation of sugars into this monoterpene, also confirm for this spec ies the presence of an alternative, non-mevalonate biosynthetic pathway for monoterpene production.