S23 - Session O8 - Effects of post-harvest storage conditions on flavor-related volatiles and fruit taste quality of five greenhouse tomato varieties produced during wintertime

Authors: Emilie Haugvaldstad, Henk Maessen, Dmitry Kechasov *

To compensate for higher production costs in winter, varieties with better taste and flavor characteristics and higher selling price are often cultivated. Tomato taste and flavor is reduced during cold storage, however the reduction is often variety-depended. Little is known how post-harvest storage conditions affect flavor and taste quality of tomatoes cultivated in greenhouses during wintertime at high latitudes. This study was aimed to analyze how post-harvest storage conditions affect composition of flavor-related volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and taste quality of tomato fruit s . Tomatoes varieties Briosso, Flavance, Piccolo, Sweetelle, Sweeterno were grown in greenhouses with artificial lightning in south-western Norway during wintertime and were collected ripe. Experimental set up was simulating typical shortest post-harvest chain for south-western Norway, including harvest day (18°C for one day, in darkness), packaging and transport (12°C for 3 days, in darkness), retail (18°C for 2 days, with light) and consumer storage in either a refrigerator (4°C for 4 days , in darkness) or a kitchen counter (20°C for 4 days , with light). VOC composition of tomato fruits was analyzed using HS-SPME - GC-M S . Fruit quality parameters includ ing sugars, titratable acidity (TA) , dry matter content, firmness and pigments were analyzed . Laboratory results were compared to responses from a taste panel. Firmness and TA were lower for fruits after storage at both conditions compared to fresh fruit s . Relative concentrations of the most flavor-related VOCs were lowest for fruits after storage at both conditions. The reduction was higher when fruits were stored at 4°C. Fruits from varieties Sweeterno and Piccolo showed the lowest diffrence in relative concentration VOC at 4 ° C and even an increase in concentration of several VOCs. Perceived overall tomato taste generally decreased after storage. Overall, storage at 20 °C is favorable for preserving flavor of most winter-produced tomato varieties, but disadvantageous for maintaining their firmness and TA.