Influence of the production process of strawberry industrial purees on free and glycosidically bound aroma compounds

Abstract

A portion of the odourless fraction of fruits bound to sugars releases aromatic substances that represent an important source of aromatic potential. During the processing of fruits, these compounds may be affected. Thus, in this work, for the first time, glycosidic aroma precursors were studied over the course of the industrial production process of commercial strawberry puree. Free volatile compounds were also studied. The results indicated that the amounts of free and bound aromatic compounds decreased, particularly in the free fraction, by more than 50% of the total amounts. The pasteurisation stage led to the greatest loss of the precursors of key strawberry odorants. However, the seed removal step offset these losses during the processing of glycosidically bound aroma compounds. The free volatile compounds that were most strongly affected were the higher alcohols and ethyl esters. This study suggests that the amounts of glycosidic aroma precursors in the raw material significantly affect the aromatic potentials of commercial purees.