Application of molasses improves strawberry marketability by enhancing fruit flavor and aroma

IF 7.3 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRONOMY

Postharvest Biology and Technology Pub Date : 2026-12-01 Epub Date: 2026-07-13 DOI:10.1016/j.postharvbio.2026.114602

Yuanxiu Lin, Yu Long, Zimeng Cui, Siqi Dai, Yunting Zhang, Mengyao Li, Qing Chen, Yong Zhang, Haoru Tang, Yifei Zhou, Ya Luo

{"title":"Application of molasses improves strawberry marketability by enhancing fruit flavor and aroma","authors":"Yuanxiu Lin, Yu Long, Zimeng Cui, Siqi Dai, Yunting Zhang, Mengyao Li, Qing Chen, Yong Zhang, Haoru Tang, Yifei Zhou, Ya Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.postharvbio.2026.114602","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The efficacy of molasses (both fermented and unfermented), a low-cost alternative to sucrose, on the ripening process, flavor, and aroma of strawberry was evaluated in this study. Comparative analyses revealed that sugar applications remarkably promote strawberry ripening, with unfermented molasses (UFM) exhibiting the most pronounced effect. Specifically, at 5 days after treatment, the number of reddish strawberries was 57.14% and 14.28% higher in UFM compared to control and sucrose treatment, respectively. At 15 days after treatment, UFM treatment significantly increased the <em>a</em>* value (redness) by 22.3% compared to the control. Meanwhile, during the first 10 days after treatment, endogenous glucose and sucrose levels were elevated in UFM-treated fruit; however, no significant differences were observed at the end of treatments. Notably, UFM-treated fruits exhibited lower citric acid content and thus optimized the sugar-acid ratio by 18.8% compared to control at 15 days after treatment. Additionally, Volatile compound profiling revealed 2–6% increases in ester abundance in both sucrose- and molasses-treated fruits compared to control. These findings suggested that applying molasses may represent a commercially viable, economically advantageous alternative to sucrose for optimizing strawberry market quality parameters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20328,"journal":{"name":"Postharvest Biology and Technology","volume":"242 ","pages":"Article 114602"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3000,"publicationDate":"2026-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Postharvest Biology and Technology","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925521426004515","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/7/13 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AGRONOMY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The efficacy of molasses (both fermented and unfermented), a low-cost alternative to sucrose, on the ripening process, flavor, and aroma of strawberry was evaluated in this study. Comparative analyses revealed that sugar applications remarkably promote strawberry ripening, with unfermented molasses (UFM) exhibiting the most pronounced effect. Specifically, at 5 days after treatment, the number of reddish strawberries was 57.14% and 14.28% higher in UFM compared to control and sucrose treatment, respectively. At 15 days after treatment, UFM treatment significantly increased the a* value (redness) by 22.3% compared to the control. Meanwhile, during the first 10 days after treatment, endogenous glucose and sucrose levels were elevated in UFM-treated fruit; however, no significant differences were observed at the end of treatments. Notably, UFM-treated fruits exhibited lower citric acid content and thus optimized the sugar-acid ratio by 18.8% compared to control at 15 days after treatment. Additionally, Volatile compound profiling revealed 2–6% increases in ester abundance in both sucrose- and molasses-treated fruits compared to control. These findings suggested that applying molasses may represent a commercially viable, economically advantageous alternative to sucrose for optimizing strawberry market quality parameters.

查看原文本刊更多论文

糖蜜的应用通过提高果实的风味和香气，提高了草莓的适销性

本研究评价了糖蜜（发酵和未发酵）作为一种低成本的蔗糖替代品，对草莓的成熟过程、风味和香气的影响。比较分析表明，糖的施用显著促进草莓成熟，未发酵糖蜜（UFM）表现出最显著的效果。处理5 d后，UFM处理的红草莓数量分别比对照和蔗糖处理高57.14%和14.28%。在治疗后15天，与对照组相比，UFM治疗显著增加了a*值（发红）22.3%。同时，在处理后的前10天，ufm处理的果实中内源葡萄糖和蔗糖水平升高；然而，在治疗结束时没有观察到显著差异。值得注意的是，在处理15天后，ufm处理的果实柠檬酸含量较低，糖酸比较对照优化了18.8%。此外，挥发性化合物分析显示，与对照相比，蔗糖和糖蜜处理的水果的酯丰度增加了2-6%。这些发现表明，使用糖蜜可能是一种商业上可行的、经济上有利的替代蔗糖的方法，可以优化草莓的市场质量参数。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Postharvest Biology and Technology 农林科学-农艺学

CiteScore

12.00

自引率

11.40%

发文量

309

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： The journal is devoted exclusively to the publication of original papers, review articles and frontiers articles on biological and technological postharvest research. This includes the areas of postharvest storage, treatments and underpinning mechanisms, quality evaluation, packaging, handling and distribution of fresh horticultural crops including fruit, vegetables, flowers and nuts, but excluding grains, seeds and forages. Papers reporting novel insights from fundamental and interdisciplinary research will be particularly encouraged. These disciplines include systems biology, bioinformatics, entomology, plant physiology, plant pathology, (bio)chemistry, engineering, modelling, and technologies for nondestructive testing. Manuscripts on fresh food crops that will be further processed after postharvest storage, or on food processes beyond refrigeration, packaging and minimal processing will not be considered.