These findings indicate that even
a
transient exposure of a single day could be enough to negatively
alter
flavor. The data also show that both 5
◦
C and 10
C are equally
effective
in preventing an increase in concentration of these aroma
volatiles.
This is a useful finding in that it is often difficult to maintain
a strict cold chain at 5
◦
◦
C throughout the duration of storage
and
this suggests that there is some allowable leeway in storage
temperature.
In fact, we have previously reported that ‘W. Murcott
Afourer’ stored at 8
C was superior in flavor to that stored
at
either 0
◦
C or 4
◦
◦
C (Obenland et al., 2011). Tietel et al. (2011)
previously reported with mandarins stored in an anaerobic atmosphere
for 0, 4 or 10 d that ethanol accumulation appears to precede
that
of ethyl esters, suggesting that the increase in ethanol concentration
was driving the ethyl ester accumulation by provision
of
substrate for the esterification reactions. Results from our study
using
waxed fruit do not provide additional evidence for this (nor do
they
disprove it) because the warm temperature-induced increase
in
ethanol
occurred
simultaneously with increases in ethyl ester
concentrations.