ISHS Acta Horticulturae 553: IV International Conference on Postharvest Science
RAPID REDUCTION IN AROMA VOLATILES OF PACIFIC ROSE™ APPLES IN CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERES |
| Authors: | H.J. Tough, E.W. Hewett |
| Keywords: | Malus domestica Borkh; volatiles; sensory evaluation; ethyl esters; acetate esters; aldehydes; alcohols; fruit quality. |
| Abstract:
Aroma volatiles make an important contribution to flavour and eating quality of apples. Controlled atmosphere (CA) storage reduces the decrease of fruit quality attributes such as texture and colour, but reduces flavour after prolonged storage. When Pacific Rose™ (a newly developed New Zealand cultivar) apples were in CA (1.5% O2 + 1.3% CO2) at 0.5°C, aroma volatile concentrations decreased within 4 weeks compared to fruit in regular air (RA). The magnitude of aroma volatile suppression by CA increased with storage time and with subsequent shelf life at 20°C and was not reversible on transfer to air. After 4 weeks in CA, butyl acetate concentration, a key aroma volatile compound, was only 34% that in RA; after 26 weeks there was no butyl acetate in CA fruit whilst high concentrations (738 mM.L-1) occurred in RA fruit. Despite the large reduction in aroma volatile concentrations an untrained taste panel found only a slight reduction in flavour intensity and no undesirable flavours in CA fruit. Conversely, some panellists identified an off-flavour in RA fruit that increased as storage and shelf life time increased. Such differences in aroma volatile concentrations between RA and CA stored fruit may affect consistency of flavour and quality between lines of Pacific Rose™ apples. | |
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