1 - Flavour quality of fruit and vegetables: are we on the brink of major advances?

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the flavor quality of fruit and vegetables and provides an answer to the question “Are we on the brink of major advances in the flavor quality of fruit and vegetables?” Flavor is emerging as one of the most important quality attributes of horticultural products, which needs to be optimized in breeding, agronomic, and post-harvest practices. There is little doubt that the knowledge of the factors contributing to the flavor quality of fruit and vegetables has increased rapidly over the last decade and that this increase will continue in the future. This knowledge base gives rise to the programs involving, for example, directed breeding, metabolic engineering and enhanced quality assessment, storage, and distribution systems, which will result in higher flavor quality produce becoming available to the consumer. However, the complex nature of flavor and the means of evaluating its quality mean that formidable challenges still need to be addressed, some of which are technical, cultural, and commercial, before this aspiration can be met. The developing understanding of the factors that contribute to flavor quality provides a basis for shifting the focus of horticultural development from agronomic and commercial concerns to one of flavor quality.