Characterization of Fuji Apples from Different Harvest Dates and Storage Conditions from Measurements of Volatiles by Gas Chromatography and Electronic Nose

Abstract

Volatile compounds in Fuji apples harvested at two different maturities were measured at harvest
and after 5 and 7 months of cold storage (1 °C) in four different atmospheres. When the samples
were characterized by both chromatographic measurements of volatiles and responses of an electronic
nose, the analyses showed a clear separation between fruits from different storage conditions (a
normal cold atmosphere and three controlled atmospheres). During poststorage, the apples were
left to ripen for 1, 5, and 10 days at 20 °C before analytical measurements were done involving
headspace-gas chromatography methods and electronic nose type quartz crystal microbalances.
Electronic nose responses registered by seven different sensors were used to classify the apples
using principal component analysis. It was possible to identify the samples from different storage
periods, days of shelf life, and harvest dates, but it was not possible to differentiate the fruits
corresponding to different cold storage atmospheres.