Physiological characteristics and volatile organic compound dynamics in bruising sweetpotatoes during short-term storage: Insights from GC–MS and GC-IMS

During harvesting and transportation, sweetpotatoes often suffer from mechanical damage like extrusion and collision, which affects their marketability and revenue. This study found that bruising significantly impacted sweetpotatoes quality, especially hardness, which decreased by 21.08 % under 180 N force at 6 d compared to control. Increased extrusion forces led to cellular destruction, higher porosity, starch aggregation, and weight loss rate. Meanwhile, the antioxidant enzyme activities decreased and cell wall degrading enzyme activities increased. A total of 24 and 35 kinds of volatile organic compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry, respectively. Notably, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones changed more significantly than others following extrusion. The content of β-ionone increased with higher forces, while 1-octen-3-ol decreased, suggesting they may serve as indicators of bruised sweetpotatoes during storage. This research enhances understanding of damaged sweetpotatoes and aids in developing advanced nondestructive testing techniques.