Abstract:

The loss of volatile components is partially attributed to the flavor changes of pears during postharvest storage. As a consequence, the understanding of changing patterns of volatile composition of pears with different degree of maturity will make a vital contribution to the development of pear harvesting and storage techniques. The main volatile components of Ya pears harvested at different times (early, middle and late) were measured by SPME-GC every 2 months during 6 months of storage. The results showed that the main volatile components in Ya pears were ethyl acetate, hexanal, 1-hexanol, butanoic acid, ethyl ester, hexanoic acid and ethyl ester. A significant effect of harvesting time was observed on the volatile composition of Ya pears. Lower contents of volatile components found in early harvested pears were kept over the whole storage period. Higher contents of volatile components were observed in late harvested pears. However, there was a significant decrease in them with the extended storage period and a dramatic loss of volatiles was seen during the later stage of storage. In middle harvested pears, volatile components were gradually accumulated and exhibited a significantly higher content than those in early and late harvested pears after 6 months of storage (P ＜ 0.05).

Key words: Ya pear, harvest time, volatile component, HS-SPME, GC