Insights into metabolomics in quality attributes of postharvest fruit

Metabolites are the biochemical and physiological results of sensory and nutritional quality attributes in relation to shelf life and response to storage environment of postharvest fruits. Inappropriate metabolic changes in maturation/ripening, senescence, and response to storage environment of postharvest fruit during storage result in quality deterioration, including texture softening, uneven coloring, flavor loss, and nutrition reduction. Metabolomics is a global and valuable approach to better understand the physiological activity-related compositions and elucidate the mechanism of maturation/ripening, senescence, responses to storage environment and postharvest treatment involved in sensory and nutritional quality, and shelf life of harvested fruits. Researches over the past two years accumulates more evidence about the importance of these major metabolites in postharvest fruit quality, including volatile compounds, primary and secondary metabolites. This minireview highlights the key metabolites, their pathways, biochemical processes, and physiological activities of postharvest fruit, with an emphasis on fruit quality during storage based on the application of metabolomics.