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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #381661
Research Project: Determination of Flavor and Healthful Benefits of Florida-Grown Fruits and Vegetables and Development of Postharvest Treatments to Optimize Shelf Life an Quality for Their Fresh and Processed Products

Location: Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research

Title: Aroma compounds are responsible for an herbaceous off-flavor in the sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cv. Regina during fruit development

Author
item VILLAVICENCIO, JUAN - Pontifical Catholic University Of Chile
item ZOFFOLI, JUAN PABLO - Pontifical Catholic University Of Chile
item Plotto, Anne
item CONTRERAS, CAROLINA - Austral University Of Chile

Submitted to: Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/4/2021
Publication Date: 10/8/2021
Citation: Villavicencio, J.D., Zoffoli, J., Plotto, A., Contreras, C. 2021. Aroma compounds are responsible for an herbaceous off-flavor in the sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cv. Regina during fruit development. Agronomy. 11(10):2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11102020.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11102020

Interpretive Summary: Off-taste or off-flavor was recently reported in the cherry variety 'Regina', otherwise commercially desirable. This study showed that the odd flavor was due to specific volatile compounds produced by the fruit in storage, and was specific to certain orchards and certain phenological stages. It is recommended to avoid early harvests to reduce the incidence of this off-flavor.

Technical Abstract: An herbaceous/grassy-like flavor has been reported by Chilean producers of ‘Regina’ sweet cherry, there are no previous reports related to this flavor occurrence. Sweet cherries from five phenological stages were collected from six orchards with high herbaceous flavor incidence spanning Chilean production zones during the 2019/2020 season. Eight trained panelists tested the fruit to identify the off-flavor incidence and severity from four phenological stages. Thirty-nine volatile compounds were identified and semi-quantified using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and analyzed by GC-MS. The highest off-flavor incidence was found at stages 3 and 4. A step-wise regression analysis showed that 91.27% of the incidence variability could be explained by (E)-2-hexenal, (E)-2-hexenyl acetate, nonanal, (E)-2-hexen-1-ol and benzaldehyde, two climatic variables (minimum temperature and accumulated degree days) and phenological stages. Preharvest practices that promote fruit ripening along with avoiding early harvests have high impact on reducing the incidence of herbaceous flavor in ‘Regina’.