A perceived lack of flavor is a major source of consumer dissatisfaction with fresh market tomatoes.Postharvest handling and retail systems contribute to poor tomato flavor,particularly by chilling fruit.Indeed,many consumers store purchased fruits in the refrigerator,further contributing to flavor deterioration.Flavorassociated volatiles are sensitive to low temperatures,and loss of volatiles has been observed during cold storage even prior to visible chilling injury.However,the molecular basis for loss of flavor-related volatiles has not been addressed.In addition to the major economic impact of flavor quality loss,the tomato fruit provides an ideal system in which to examine the effects of environmental stress on a genome scale.Red ripe tomato fruits were subjected to chilling temperature with or without a one day recovery period,and a systematic analysis was performed by examining changes in flavor-associated chemicals and gene expression patterns.Significant alterations in flavor-related volatiles resulted in lower flavor and overall liking intensity as determined by consumer panel taste tests.The large transcriptional reprogramming that resulted from chilling treatments was correlated with alterations in flavor chemistry.These observations provide a framework for fruit responses to environmental stress and the consequent deterioration in flavor quality.