Volatile organic compounds as non-destructive biomarkers for postharvest quality and disease detection in vegetables

High perishability of vegetables associated with rapid physiological deterioration and microbial spoilage results in 30-50% post-harvest losses globally. In earlier days, post-harvest diseases were detected by visual inspection, microbial culturing, and molecular assays. These destructive methods are time-consuming and unsuitable for real-time monitoring. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have emerged as promising non-destructive biomarkers enhanced for early detection of quality deterioration and pathogen attack, often before visible symptoms appear. This review provides a thorough overview of current knowledge on VOC emissions in postharvest vegetables with their biosynthetic origins, classification, and roles in different kinds of stress responses and host microbe interactions. VOC alterations during spoilage and disease progression are systematically evaluated, highlighting vegetable group-specific patterns and quantitative dynamics of key biomarkers emitted naturally and due to mechanical and microbial spoilage. GC-MS, GC-IMS, PTR-MS, electronic noses, and biosensors are advanced analytical techniques that are critically compared with emphasis on their integration with machine learning for classification accuracy. Despite this significant progress, variability across cultivars and storage conditions, overlap between host- and pathogen-derived volatile metabolites, and an enduring gap between laboratory findings and commercial applications are major challenges that cannot be ignored. The development of real-time monitoring systems, vegetable-specific VOC databases, and integration with smart storage infrastructure powered by the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence must be prioritized in the future.