Tissue fractions and seed provenance shape the quality of spaghetti squash juice: A comparative analysis of physicochemical, bioactive, and flavor properties.

Spaghetti squash has a unique texture and abundant bioactives, attractive for functional foods, but how tissue fraction and seed provenance affect juice quality is unclear. This study compared strand, pulp, and whole juices from Anhui and Xinjiang seed provenances under identical conditions. Both factors significantly influenced all attributes. Anhui strand juice had the highest total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and bile acid binding. Xinjiang whole juice had a higher sugar-acid ratio, more balanced taste, and green-grassy C6 aldehydes and alcohols. Phenolics correlated with color, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and browning. E-nose and E-tongue discriminated samples; 13 key VOCs drove flavor differences. Our findings not only provide a scientific basis for the targeted utilization of spaghetti squash tissues but also establish an integrated analytical framework-combining controlled cultivation to isolate seed-provenance effects, multi-platform flavor profiling, and in vitro functional assays-that can be extended to other horticultural crops for quality-oriented precision processing.