THE AROMA OF STRAWBERRY (FRAGARIA-ANANASSA) - CHARACTERIZATION OF SOME CULTIVARS AND INFLUENCE OF FREEZING

The volatiles of six strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch) cultivars, both fresh and deep‐frozen, were isolated by direct dichloromethane extraction. Sixty compounds were identified and quantified by GC—MS. Characterisation of cultivars was achieved by applying principal component analysis to the chromatographic data. Great differences were observed. Maxim and Directeur Paul Wallbaum are rather low in volatiles while Gariguette and Tioga are rich in mesifurane (2,5‐dimethyl‐4‐methoxy‐2,3‐dihydrofuran‐3‐one), furaneol' (2,5‐dimethyl‐4‐hydroxy‐2,3‐dihydrofuran‐3‐one) and nerolidol. Esters are the major compounds in Senga Sengana and Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury. This last cultivar is also characterised by high concentrations of γ‐decalactone. Trans‐hex‐2‐enal and hexanal are found mainly in fresh fruits. Determinations of volatiles in stored frozen fruits have shown only slight influence on mesifurane and furaneol while the concentration of nerolidol increases and that of esters decreases. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd