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The volatile compounds from fruits vary based on the spoilage stage. We used FTIR spectroscopy to analyze and to attempt to identify the spoilage process of strawberries. To enhance the sensitivity of the measuring system, we increased the optical pathlength by using multi-reflecting mirrors. The volatile compounds that were vaporized from strawberries in different spoilage stages were tested. We analyzed the spectra and found that the concentrations of esters, alcohols, ethylene, and similar compounds changed with deterioration. The change patterns of the infrared spectra for the volatiles were further examined using 2D correlation spectroscopy. We analyzed the spectral data using PCA and were able to distinguish the fresh, slightly spoiled strawberries from the seriously spoiled strawberries. This study demonstrates that FTIR is an effective tool for monitoring strawberry spoilage and for providing status alerts.

Fruits release specific volatiles as vapors during spoilage that can provide information about the spoilage stages of fruits. We used long optical path Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and sensor arrays comprising carbon dioxide and ethanol sensors to study the grape spoilage process synchronously. The results revealed that specific volatiles, such as carbon dioxide, ethanol and esters, are released from grapes during spoilage. The presence and concentrations of these compounds gradually change with storage time. Through chemometric analysis, the infrared spectra of volatiles from different spoilage stages of grapes were successfully classified. As a simple form of instrumentation, the sensor arrays also have the ability to discriminate whether the grapes have decayed. We established a Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) model to classify the grape samples into different spoilage stages, and the model according to different quantities of grapes is also discussed. This study demonstrates that it is possible to characterize grape spoilage by analyzing the released volatiles.