Analytical indicators of plum fruit sensory characteristic changes after seven-day storage at room temperature

Abstract

Consumer acceptance of plum is based, primarily, on the corresponding sensory characteristics of the fruits: appearance, colour, firmness, taste and aroma. If not consumed immediately after harvesting, the aforementioned characteristics of plum will change. Still, those changes are less expressed when fruits are kept in cold storage, at low temperatures. However, during the transport and storage of plum at room temperature, which is often the case in local market plum sale, intense changes of certain characteristics of the fruit happens as well as a significant shortening of shelf life. The most expressive is firmness change where fruits become completely soft after seven days. Appearance and colour of the fruit are less susceptible to change. Since plum taste and odour depend on sugar and acid content, i.e., sugar-acid ratio and the content of certain volatile aromatic components, changes of their contents have been examined in some important plum cultivars in Serbia after seven-day storage at the temperature 20±1 °C. Sugar-acid ratio that determines sweetness, i.e., fruit acidity, has not significantly changed during thе storage period. Among 10 examined aromatic components, the most significant changes have been observed in 2-E-hexenal, which gives a distinctive green note aroma and nonanal, characteristic plum-like scent. During the seven-day storage of picked plums, the content of 2-E-hexenal decreased while the content of nonanal increased.