The goal of postharvest research is to optimize and extend fruit storage and quality.Common parameters measured include texture,sugars,acids and flavor volatites.But are these measurements relevant for the eating quality of the fruit? Examples will show the benefits and limitations of each technique commonly used in flavor research.Gas chromatography combined with olfactometry,where you have a human detector,can discover new odor-active compounds sometimes undetected by flame ionization(FID)or mass spectrometry(MS)detectors.Odor thresholds and odor activity values(OAV)are traditionally used to identify the contribution of an odor-active compound to the food flavor.However,they have their limitations as thresholds are not available for all compounds,and they depend greatly on the method of determination,including panelists and matrix of measurement.Nevertheless,the knowledge of off-flavor compound(volatiles or non volatiles)thresholds can be useful to predict off-flavor in a food,and has found its application in orange juice affected by citrus greening or Huanglongbing disease.Untargeted metabolomics,or flavoromics,combined with sensory evaluation and statistical analysis,can identify flavor or off-flavor markers.However,the availability of the identified compound(s)in a pure and food-grade form can limit the validation process by a taste panel.Examples of the different methods will be provided for apple,strawberry and citrus flavor.