Assignment of distinctive volatiles, descriptive sensory analysis and consumer preference of differently ripened and post-harvest handled pineapple (Ananas comosus [L.] Merr.) fruits

Abstract

Volatiles of differently ripened fresh pineapples were investigated by a non-targeted profiling analysis comparing fruits harvested at full maturity exported by rapid air freight to pineapples harvested at an earlier green-ripe stage. The latter fruits were exported by sea freight and analysed upon arrival at their destination and after post-harvest flavour genesis. Volatiles were analysed by headspace solid-phase microextraction, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and multivariate statistical data analysis. Clear-cut differences in the volatile profiles were found. Fully ripe air-freighted pineapples were characterised by elevated concentrations of two 1,3,5,8-undecatetraene isomers, methyl 3-methylbutanoate and 4-methoxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone, which have been reported as potent contributors to the pineapple flavour. Compared to fully ripened fruits, development of volatiles of sea-freighted pineapples upon arrival in Europe was rudimentary. Post-harvest storage of sea-freighted pineapples resulted in a different volatile profile due to the genesis of hydroxylated and acetoxylated methyl esters and hexanal. Subsequent descriptive sensory analysis was performed by trained panellists comparing retronasal odour and taste profiles. Fully ripe fruits were characterised by a pineapple-like note, fruity flavours and a sweet taste. In contrast, most of these attributes were rated at lower intensities when premature green-ripe fruits were tested. At the end of the post-harvest period, sea-freighted pineapples were characterised by fruity notes accompanied by a musty/corky- and cardboard-like off-flavour. Odour, taste and overall preference were significantly higher rated for air-freighted pineapples as revealed by an untrained consumer panel

Influence of fruit logistics on fresh-cut pineapple (Ananas comosus [L.] Merr.) volatiles assessed by HS-SPME–GC–MS analysis

“…Furthermore, 16 terpenes, nine alcohols, six γ-and δ-lactones, five aldehydes, four undecaene hydrocarbons, and two furanones were tentatively identified. This qualitative composition of volatiles resembled that previously reported for fresh 'MD2' pineapples [4,5,19] and juice obtained thereof [20], except for some juicespecific constituents, such as free fatty acids and diverse norterpenoids, that were not found in the fresh-cut samples assessed herein.…”

“…In a previous study, fully ripe air-freighted pineapples and three post-harvest stages of green-ripe, sea-freighted fruit were assessed by solidphase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS), revealing clear-cut differences in their volatiles [4]. In addition, the odour, taste, and overall preference of air-freighted pineapples were significantly better rated by a consumer panel compared to sea-freighted fruit assessed at two post-harvest stages [5]. By analogy to fresh fruit, also quality of freshcut products obtained from fully ripe and green-ripe seafreighted pineapples may differ.…”

Effects of Centrifugal Block Freeze Crystallization on Quality Properties in Pineapple Juice

“…The fresh juice group had the highest amount of volatile compounds, and the areas corresponded with twelve esters, three acids, three alcohols, three ketones, three aldehydes, and two unknown compounds. Several authors reported that esters are the major volatile compounds in pineapple and may contribute to the pronounced fruity aroma, although their qualitative and quantitative composition may differ among the analyzed samples .…”

GC-MS Based Metabolite Profiling to Monitor Ripening-Specific Metabolites in Pineapple (Ananas comosus)

“…Recent studies about fruit ripening metabolomics mostly focused on climacteric fruits, such as banana, mango, capsicum, dates, avocado, peach, climacteric melon, and mangosteen [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. On the other hand, only a few of non-climacteric ripening processed fruit had been elucidated using metabolomics approach, such as cherry, blackcurrant, blueberry, non-climacteric melon, and pineapple [15,[17][18][19][20][21]. Previous metabolomics studies on non-climacteric fruit employed mass spectrometry-based instruments, such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (LC-MS).…”

“…Previous metabolomics studies on non-climacteric fruit employed mass spectrometry-based instruments, such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (LC-MS). Several studies performed a combination of headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) with GC-MS to measure volatile compounds during the ripening process [15,20]. Reports on pineapple ripening have been focused in volatile and phenolic compounds using HS-SPME-GC-MS, high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and electrospray ionization multiple-stage mass-spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS n ), and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI(-)FT-ICR MS) [21][22][23][24].…”