129 Postharvest Life, Quality and Flavor Characterization of Three Strawberry Cultivars Kept in Air or CO2-enriched Atmospheres

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Elevated CO2 atmospheres reduce decay and extend postharvest life based on appearance of strawberries but flavor quality may be lost faster than appearance quality. California-grown `Aromas', `Diamante,' and `Selva' strawberries were stored at 5 °C in air or 20 kPa CO2 + air for 15 days and evaluated for quality attributes, chemical changes, and flavor. In a “Preference Test”, `Selva” and `Diamante' were more preferred than `Aromas'. This may be related to their higher titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), the concentration of total aroma compounds, a different methyl/ethyl esters ratio, and the presence of C6 aldehydes. The postharvest life in air was 7, 9, and 9 days for `Aromas', `Diamante' and `Selva', respectively and these periods were extended by 30%, 20%, and 45% in the CO2-enriched atmosphere. There were no significant differences in TA or TSS between fruits kept in air or in air + CO2 and panelists could not detect differences in sourness and sweetness after 9 days of storage. In contrast, there was a trend for CO2-stored fruits of the three cultivars to be categorized as more aromatic, and for `Aromas' and `Selva' fruits to be described as more “strawberry like” in flavor compared to the corresponding air-stored fruits. The total aroma concentration decreased to a lesser extent in `Aromas' and `Selva' strawberries kept in air + CO2 than in those stored in air. The CO2-enriched atmosphere stimulated fermentative metabolism only in `Aromas' and `Selva'; the higher concentration of ethanol in these two cultivars favored the synthesis of ethyl esters. The total content of aroma compounds and the methyl/ethyl esters ratio may be two of the multiple factors determining the overall fruit flavor.