In this work, we studied aroma compounds and quality of 'Fuji' (Nagafu 6) apples during their tree-maturation and along storage period. During pre-harvest period, fruit samples were picked at 6 dates. Apple samples were harvested at 185 and 195 days after full bloom (DAFB) and stored in ULO atmosphere (1.1% O₂ + 0.9% CO₂, 1 ºC, 92% RH) during 3 and 5 months. Fruit analyses were carried out at each tree sampling date and after each storage period (after 1, 5 and 10 days al 20ºC).
During tree-maturation of fruit, we observed an increase of most of esters and 2-methyl-1-butanol. Fruit firmness and acidity remained constant, whereas SS and a*+b* (background colour) increased along maturation of the apples. The highest aroma production was obtained after 5 months storage and 1 day of ripening at 20 ºC. Fruits harvested at 195 DAFB showed more aroma concentration than fruits harvested at 185 DAFB. During storage, apples had a good retention of quality parameters (in fruits harvested at 185 DAFB); hovewer, these fruits lost firmness and acidity during shelf-life period after 5 months of storage; apple colour was also influenced by shelf-life period.