S23 - Session O8 - Postharvest prevalence of the herbaceous off-flavor in `Regina´ sweet cherry from central and southern Chilean producers

Authors: Juan David Villavicencio *, Juan Pablo Zoffoli, Carolina Contreras

Chile is the main exporter of cherries in the Southern Hemisphere and cv. Regina is the most widely planted due to its resistance to cracking, late harvests, good mechanical properties and good flavor. Ninety eight percent of the Chilean sweet cherries are successfully shipped to China in a 40 days journey. However, growers, exporters and receivers have reported an herbaceous flavor upon harvest and during storage, which have reduced the commercialization of the affected fruit. Additionally, our sensory results showed the appearance of this off-flavor during fruit development at the bright red color stage and commercial harvest. The objective of this research was to determine if the herbaceous flavor persists during storage, and how it affects postharvest quality of 'Regina' sweet cherry. Cherries were harvested during the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons at commercial maturity. The first season, 2 orchards were used for the study, and 3 orchards for the second season. Freshly harvested cherries were stored under modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for 30 and 45 days at 0 °C, plus 3 days at 15 °C. Incidence and severity of the off-flavor in eighty sweet cherries were classified by a trained panel into 'herbaceous' and 'non-affected'. Another eighty sweet cherries were assessed for fruit quality parameters at each storage time. The herbaceous off-flavor was detected in all storage conditions with incidence of ~10% and 15% at harvest for the first and second year, respectively. After storage removal the incidence of the off-flavor ranged between 3-15% (season 1) and 4%-10% (season 2). Our study showed that there are orchards with high, medium and low incidence of the herbaceous flavor. Potential strategies to control the off-flavor incidence during pre and postharvest will be discussed.