Volatile Constituents of Bing Sweet Cherry Fruit following Controlled Atmosphere Storage

Abstract

Volatile constituents of Bing sweet cherry fruit were analyzed by purge and trap sampling from fruit homogenates at harvest and after air or controlled atmosphere storage. Acetic acid and aldehydes were quantitatively the largest volatile compounds present at harvest. Changes during storage in the concentrations of three compounds previously identified as contributors to sweet cherry fruit flavor, benzaldehyde, E-2-hexenal, and hexanal, were independent of storage conditions. Ethanol accumulated in fruit stored in 15 or 20% CO2 with 5% O2 after 6 weeks of storage. Qualitative and quantitative changes in ester production, particularly ethyl acetate, were coincident with the accumulation of ethanol. 2-Propanol concentrations were consistently highest in fruit stored in 5% O2 with 0.1% CO2. Some qualitative changes in volatile production after 4 weeks of storage were unrelated to storage conditions and may reflect metabolic changes occurring during sweet cherry senescence. A number of esters were not detecta...