Determination of volatile profiles inside apple fruit storage facilities using Monotrap™ monolithic silica adsorbent and GC–MS

Abstract

The interior atmosphere of storage facilities is very important for maintaining fruit quality and delaying senescence, so it's of significance to determine the volatile profiles in this environment for the postharvest industry. However, volatile profiles inside fruit storage facilities have been rarely reported. To study the volatile profiles of the atmosphere inside fruit storage facilities, a method comprising Monotrap™ adsorbent and GC–MS analysis in the study was developed and tested. Based on that, the volatile profiles in the atmosphere inside fruit storage facilities at four locations in Shaanxi Province were monitored. Altogether thirty-six volatiles were detected, and most of them were identified as esters. An analysis of the similarities of volatile profiles showed that the three storage rooms at each location clustered together. The storage rooms at two locations in Baoji had the most similar volatile profiles, and both were similar to that at Xianyang, but different from that at Yan'an, which were consistent with their geographic distributions. On the basis of a principal component analysis, heatmap dendrogram, and correlation matrix analysis, these compounds clustered into five groups. Compounds in Group 1, which were abundant in the storage room at Yan'an, were branched-chain esters, whereas the compounds in the other four groups were mainly straight-chain esters which were abundant in the storage rooms at Xianyang and Baoji. The difference among volatile profiles inside fruit storage facilities at four locations might be caused by ultraviolet radiation. In this study, we demonstrated the Monotrap™ adsorbent and GC–MS analysis were an efficient method for volatile compounds detection inside fruit storage facilities.