Sweet cherry fruits (Prunus avium cvs. ‘Canada Giant’, ‘Ferrovia’) were harvested at commercial maturity stage and analyzed at harvest and after maintenance at room temperature (storage at ∼20°C, shelf life) for 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 days, respectively. Fruit were initially analyzed for respiration rate, qualitative attributes and textural properties: ‘Canada Giant’ fruit were characterized by higher weight losses and stem browning index, being more intense over the late stages of shelf life period; meanwhile ‘Ferrovia’ possessed appreciably better performance even after extended shelf life period. A gradual decrease of respiration rate was monitored in both cultivars, culminated after 8 days at 20°C. The sweet cherry fruit nutraceutical profile was monitored using an array of instrumental techniques (spectrophotometric assays, HPLC, 1H-NMR). Fruit antioxidant capacity was enhanced with the progress of shelf life period, concomitant with the increased levels of total anthocyanin and of phenolic compounds. ‘Ferrovia’ fruit presented higher contents of neochlorogenic acid and p-coumaroylquinic acid throughout the shelf life period. We further developed an 1H-NMR method that allows the study of primary and secondary metabolites in a single running, without previous separation and isolation procedures. Diagnostic peaks were located in the aliphatic region for sugars and organic acids, in the aromatic region for phenolic compounds and at 8.2–8.6 ppm for anthocyanins. This NMR-based methodology provides a unifying tool for quantitative and qualitative characterization of metabolite changes of sweet cherry fruits; it is also expected to be further exploited for monitoring temporal changes in other fleshy fruits.

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Summary ‘Kathista’ and ‘Lortiko’ are regarded as traditional and highly appreciated apple cultivars in Cyprus, yet their postharvest behaviour and phytochemical content are largely unknown. Such fruits were examined for their qualitative traits, phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity after harvest or short, intermediate or extended cold storage and additional ripening at room temperature (RT), using ‘Gala’ as reference cultivar. Total phenolic content was dependent on cultivar and length of cold storage, while hydroxycinnamic acids were always at higher levels compared to total flavonols for all the examined cultivars. No clear trends regarding the influence of cold storage or RT maintenance on fruit antioxidant properties were evident. Overall, quality attributes and polyphenolic content of the traditional apple cultivars were comparable with ‘Gala’ at harvest; thus, they can be considered a good source of nutraceuticals as summer apple cultivars. However, extended cold storage deteriorates fruit behaviour and antioxidant capacity, particularly in ‘Lortiko’ fruit.