ABSTRACT
The avor of fruits and vegetables is complex and dynamic and is affected by many pre-and postharvest factors. Desirable avor is a critical factor that can determine consumer satisfaction and thus sustainability of markets. While postharvest technologies are designed to prevent decay and breakdown and maintain good appearance of fresh produce, their effect on avor is often neglected. Flavor is the human perception of a complex combination of volatile, nonvolatile, and structural components contributing to appearance, aroma, taste, and texture. Volatile compounds contributing to avor consist of diverse chemistries, including esters, terpenes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, lactones, and sulfur compounds. Nonvolatile compounds contributing to avor include sugars, acids, and phenolics. Changes in avor can result from metabolic changes in avor compounds, diffusional loss of volatile avor compounds, or gains of compounds from the storage environment or treatments. Harvest maturity and postharvest manipulation of ripening are important for optimizing avor. The postharvest environment, including temperature, atmosphere modication through controlled atmosphere (CA) storage, modied atmosphere packaging (MAP) or coatings, and the application of various postharvest treatments, can preserve, enhance, or degrade product avor. Reduced temperatures can slow metabolic changes and diffusional loss of avor compounds, but also may inhibit normal ripening and cause avor loss in some chilling-sensitive commodities. Low oxygen atmospheres can inhibit avor synthesis or induce anaerobic atmospheres that can cause fermentation, which can result in off-avors. Cutting fresh produce to add value and consumer convenience can alter avor by inducing the production of secondary avor compounds, altering metabolism, and increasing diffusional losses. A variety of postharvest treatments, such as heat, irradiation, ozone, and chemical fumigation, are used to reduce decay, eliminate quarantine pests, ensure product safety, and prolong storage life. These treatments
I M P A C T O F P O S T H A R V E S T T E C H N O L O G I E S
may affect avor by altering product physiology. Opportunities also exist to enhance product avor by use of high-avored cultivars, optimization of fruit ripening, design of avor-retaining packages and coating formulations, and optimization of technologies to enhance produce avor.
