During the storage a loss of volatile compounds responsible for the aroma and an increase of undesirable compounds can occur leading to a decrease in the strawberry quality, a reduction of the shelf life and product rejection by the consumers. In the present work the influence of the planting system (conventional and organic) and the storage period (0, 2, 5 and 8 days) upon physical and chemical characteristics (FCC) as well as on strawberry volatile compounds (VC) in the cultivars 'Camarosa' and 'Camino Real' were evaluated using strawberries from a commercial orchard from Pelotas/RS. The fruits were harvested in a stage of commercial maturation and sound appearance. The experimental planning was randomized, in triplicate of fifteen fruits. The strawberries were stored at 1°C and 90-95% of relative humidity (RH). The mass loss, the instrumental color [L*, a*, b* and hue angle (H)], the firmness, the soluble solids (SS), the titratable acidity (TA), the SS/TA ratio, the pH and VC content were determined. The results were analyzed by analysis of variance and significant differences were determined using Tukey's test (P<0.05). The results show that pH, SS, relation SS/TA, decay and mass loss have increased during storage. The firmness varied irregularly and TA and H decreased significantly. The values of VC increased with the exception of methyl acetate (MA). Ethanol (Et), acetaldehyde (AA) and ethyl acetate (EA) correlated positively with decay for organic cultivated 'Camino Real'. In a general way, the MA correlated inversely with decay with the exception of conventional cultivated 'Camino Real'. Strawberries from both cultures can be stored for five days without loosing quality regardless the production system.
Fragaria x ananassa Duch.; production organic; production conventional; postharvest; fruit quality
