Physiological Impacts of Fruit Ripening and Storage Conditions on Aroma Volatile Formation in Apple and Strawberry Fruit: A Review

Abstract

After a brief description of the “history of research” of aroma volatiles of apple and strawberry fruit, possible reasons for the reduced production of these important quality attributes by particular pre- and postharvest procedures are given. Among the possible physiological factors in association with reduced aroma volatile production, a reduced ethylene sensitivity, a decline in the rate of respiration as well as the content of adenine nucleotides and limited free fatty acids as precursors for aroma volatiles biosynthesis are proposed. A hypothesis about how this sequence of events leads to reduced volatile production is given and finally some suggestions of how to improve volatile synthesis are discussed.