Effect of Cutting and Storage on Acetate and Nonacetate Esters in Convenient, Ready-to-eat Fresh-cut Melons and Apples

Abstract

Examples from various harvest regimes, storage regimes, cultivars and different packaging methods are presented to characterize volatile ester differences after cutting and how changes occur in characteristic flavors throughout the postharvest life of certain cut fruit products. In many fresh-cut cantaloupe cultivars and in honeydew, there was a relative increase in nonacetates and coinciding relative decrease in acetates during storage. A similar and consistent nonacetate:acetate ester ratio was conserved in cantaloupe from eastern and western U.S. regions, as well as different cultivars from the same field. Furthermore, similar ratios were observed in many melon cultivars over multiple years from different seasons and growing regions. Since many cultivars exhibited similar trends in 2-year repeated studies, the trend is apparently independent of year and season. Fresh-cut `Gala' apples, on the other hand, displayed a slightly different trend whereby both acetates and nonacetate esters decreased appreciably during storage. The hypothesis is put forward that recycling of esters during storage in certain fresh-cut fruits disturbs the delicate fine balance of characteristic volatiles. Consistently decreasing acetates along with increasing nonacetates could alter the overall perceived desirable flavor attributes during fresh-cut melon storage, even though volatile esters are still abundant.