Instrumental based flavour characterisation of banana fruit

Different instrumental techniques are used to evaluate the integrated flavour profile, including taste and volatile components, of a common export banana cultivar (Gran Enano) during ripening. Besides standard techniques to assess fruit quality (firmness, soluble solids content), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) with headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS SPME) was used for the quantification of the different volatile components. The most important taste components with respect to sweetness (d-glucose, d-fructose, sucrose) and sourness (l-malic acid and citric acid) were determined using an enzymatic high-throughput (EHT) method. The different parameters were monitored during a ripening process starting from a green colour stage until fully ripened bananas. Clear differences were observed between bananas at different ripening stages with respect to the main instrumental attributes (total acid and sugar content, total volatile production, SSC, and firmness) and the individual volatile components. In addition, differences in flavour profile were observed between ethylene and non-ethylene treated bananas at the same colour stage and between bananas from different origins.