Analysis of aroma compounds in new strawberry advanced genotypes

The aroma profile of 15 Fragaria × ananassa new advanced selections were compared to 5 control cultivars. The selections were developed in the framework of the CREA-FRF strawberry breeding program aimed at enhancing the sensory properties; they showed good aromatic characteristics in an informal sensory evaluation. The control cultivars were chosen for the very low fruit aroma characteristics. Volatile compounds were extracted from homogenized fruit headspace using solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) and analysed with a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The identification was performed by comparison of mass spectra with those stored in NIST 08 and Wiley 7 libraries. Data were expressed as area unit ×10^-5 (AU) g^-1. The results highlighted that the headspace of these advanced aromatic genotypes is characterized by high concentrations of short chain fatty acids esters, in particular methyl butanoate (MB), ethyl butanoate (EB), methyl hexanoate (MH), ethyl hexanoate (EH), hexyl acetate (HA). In addition, an high-boiling ester, tentatively identified as butyl butyryl lactate, was found in the advanced genotypes headspace. To our knowledge, this ester had not been found before in strawberries and could be responsible for the creamy, buttery notes of the flavour. In most selections indicated as aromatic by subjective taste directly in the field an higher amount of volatile compounds was found by HS-SPME GC-MS with respect to the check cultivars, indicating the possibility to increase aroma in the new cultivars released in the next future.