The flavor substances of strawberries, especially the volatile compounds, have been studied extensively. The exact composition of a strawberry may vary between cultivars, growth, storage conditions and years.
In the literature, more than 360 volatile compounds were reported. As well as sugars and acids about 15–20 volatile compounds are important for sensory perception. Only a limited number of compounds have been made responsible for the formation of the typical,very pleasant flavor.
Particular esters, terpenes, and furans have the most significant fits to strawberry flavor intensity. In total, thirty-one volatile compounds are found to be significantly correlated to strawberry flavor intensity.
Analysis of the aroma value (the ratio of compound concentration to odor threshold) has indicated that less than 20 compounds contribute significantly to strawberry flavor. Esters, formed by esterification of alcohols and acyl-CoA, constitute the largest and one of the most important groups contributing to the fruity and floral notes and they comprise from 25% to 90% of the total volatiles in fresh ripe fruit.
Terpenes, which include linalool, nerolidol, terpineol, or a-pinene, constitute the other important group, providing pleasant citrus and spicy notes and reaching up to 20% of total fruit volatiles in some cultivars of strawberry. Terpenes normally comprise less than10% of strawberry volatiles and sulphur compounds less than 2%.
Other compounds considered important for strawberry flavor are hexanal, (Z)-3-hexenal, 2-heptanone, and g-decalactone, the latter being a noteworthy cultivar-specific compound conferring peach (Prunus persica)-like flavor to strawberry fruit.
Sweet and sour are the major non-volatile flavor components in strawberry. 75% of the carbohydrate (about 6% of the berry weight) in strawberries is sugar: sucrose, glucose and fructose.
Flavor compounds of strawberry fruit
