Characterization of Fuji apples from different harvest dates and storage conditions from measurements of volatiles by gas chromatography and electronic nose.

Abstract

Volatile compounds in Fuji apples harvested at two different maturities were measured at harvest and after 5 and 7 months of cold storage (1 degrees C) in four different atmospheres. When the samples were characterized by both chromatographic measurements of volatiles and responses of an electronic nose, the analyses showed a clear separation between fruits from different storage conditions (a normal cold atmosphere and three controlled atmospheres). During poststorage, the apples were left to ripen for 1, 5, and 10 days at 20 degrees C before analytical measurements were done involving headspace-gas chromatography methods and electronic nose type quartz crystal microbalances. Electronic nose responses registered by seven different sensors were used to classify the apples using principal component analysis. It was possible to identify the samples from different storage periods, days of shelf life, and harvest dates, but it was not possible to differentiate the fruits corresponding to different cold storage atmospheres.