Postharvest injury, strawberry volatiles, and Botrytis development

Prior work has indicated that the C₆ products of the lipoxygenase hydroperoxide lyase enzymatic pathway can impact the development of the postharvest pathogen Botrytis cinerea, at high levels inhibiting it and at low levels promoting it. In the present work, compression bruising strawberry fruit altered their volatile profile for a period after the injury by increasing the production of these compounds and more common aroma compounds like ethyl butanoate. In vitro spore cultures of B. cinerea placed in close proximity to a bruise site on a ripe fruit, and to a gently shaken fruit, exhibited increased rates of germ tube elongation compared to spores placed in proximity to a non-wounded surface. Since appreciable accumulation of CO₂ and ethylene from bruising was not evident, the wound volatile compounds may play a functional role promoting fungal growth after a wound event.