Impact of Harvesting and Processing Conditions on Green Leaf Volatile Development and Phenolics in Concord Grape Juice
2010
Iyer, M.M. | Sacks, G.L. | Padilla-Zakour, O.I.
The disruption of plant cell walls during fruit juice processing results in the enzymatic formation of herbaceous-smelling green leaf volatiles (GLVs). Our objective was to assess the impact of thermal processing conditions on resulting levels of GLVs (hexanal, trans-2-hexenal, hexanol, cis-3-hexenol, and trans-2-hexenol), total phenols, monomeric anthocyanins, and percent polymeric color in Concord grape juice. The effects of fruit maturity and stage of juice processing on juice GLV content was also assessed. Of the GLVs studied, only trans-2-hexenal routinely exceeded its published sensory threshold in finished juice. We observed an inverse linear correlation between berry maturity (total soluble solids) and trans-2-hexenal levels in finished juice (P < 0.05, R ²= 0.91). Trans-2-hexenal was at a maximum immediately following crushing (569 μg/kg, >30-fold over detection threshold [DT]), decreased to 100 μg/kg following depectinization, pressing, and pasteurization, and to 32 μg/kg following cold-stabilization. The loss of trans-2-hexenal could be explained primarily by its reduction to trans-2-hexenol, which increased from 53 μg/kg after crushing to 500 μg/kg after cold-stabilization. High temperature pretreatment of must immediately following crushing ("hot break") resulted in 5- to 6-fold higher concentrations of trans-2-hexenal in the final bottled juice as compared to conventional hot press. Contrary to expectations, no significant increase in phenolics and anthocyanins were observed in hot break conditions. These results indicate that hot break procedures may thermally inactivate enzymes responsible for transforming trans-2-hexenal under normal processing conditions and potentially alter the flavor qualities of the finished Concord juice. Different equivalent pasteurization regimes (82 to 93 °C) prior to bottling had no significant effect on GLV content of the finished Concord juices (P > 0.05). Practical Application: Introducing new processing techniques to fruit juice production can potentially result in undesirable changes to organoleptic properties. We have observed significantly higher levels of trans-2-hexenal, a potent herbaceous off-flavor, in Concord grape juice prepared with an initial high temperature heat treatment ("hot break"). Concord juice producers should be cautious in using hot break processing, especially with immature fruit, as it may result in persistence of green aromas in juice.
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