New Biodegradable Mulching Films for Strawberry (Fragaria × Ananassa Duch.): Effects on the Volatile Profiles of the Fruit

The effects of mulching films on the profiles of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from two strawberry cultivars, namely Elide and Sabrina, were evaluated by headspace solid-phase micro-extraction coupled to gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). Strawberries were grown on two biodegradable mulching films, named N5 and N18, in comparison to black polyethylene (PE). PCA models, separately performed on the VOCs dataset of the two cultivars, showed that the observations for each of the three mulching films lie in corresponding regions of the PCA plot, suggesting that the mulching films represented the main source of data variation, and hence, the variability of the VOCs profile induced by the mulching films overcame the cv-related one. For both the cultivars, a higher number of VOCs with a positive impact on the "sweet" taste sensation and consumers' preference were positively correlated with strawberries produced on the biodegradable films compared to PE. However, there was an interaction between the type of cultivar and the mulches, as Elide responded better to N18 and N5 mulching films, while Sabrina responded better only to N18. Altogether, these results could contribute to assessing the effects of mulching type on putative volatile markers of the desirable sensory perception and consumers' acceptability of strawberries.