39B-17

K. S. TANDON¹, J. W. Scott², E. A. Baldwin³, and R. L. Shewfelt¹. (1) Department of Food Science and Technology, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, (2) Gulf Coast Research & Education Center, University of Florida, IFAS, 5007, 60th Street East, Bradenton, FL 34203, (3) USDA, ARS Citrus & Subtropical Products Lab, 600 Ave.S, NW, PO Box 1909, Winter Haven, FL 33881

Tomatoes have become one of the most sought-after items of fresh produce in the supermarket. Tomatoes are also among the items that generate the most complaints, which is primarily the lack of characteristic flavor. The understanding of tomato flavor involving the interactions of sugars and acids and volatile aromatic compounds is still lacking. This approach is designed to help the breeders and molecuar biologists in establishing a clear target for selection and manipulation of tomato flavor quality.

Our objective was to characterize fresh tomato flavor by descriptive analysis and develop quantitative relationships for sensory descriptors as functions of chemical components.

A sensory panel trained on the Spectrum technique for descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the tomato cultigens for specific flavor notes. The chemical analyses performed included measuring soluble solids, total sugars, pH and titratable acidity and determination of volatile aromatic compounds using a gas chromatograph. Regression equations were developed to predict the flavor notes as functions of the volatile and non-volatile components of tomato flavor.

The non-volatile flavor components like sugars and acids showed little effect on most flavor notes. On the other hand, the volatile aromatic compounds did influence the prediction of flavor notes with hexanal, cis-3-hexenal, 1-penten-3-one, trans-2-heptenal and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one providing the most contributions to the perception of tomato flavor notes. Ethanol and methanol did not influence the flavor perception.

An understanding of which flavor compounds influence the perception of specific flavor notes provides information for molecuar targets to modify flavor of fresh tomatoes. The data generated provide an important step in the rational design of tomato cultivars with enhanced flavor.