## 4 Conclusions  
In this study, the qualitative and semi-quantitative changes of VOCs in strawberries cv. Elide and cv. Sabrina, grown on three mulching films, namely PE, N5, and N18, were evaluated on a statistical basis. Overall, for both the cvs., the data analysis highlighted a positive effect of the biodegradable mulching films in improving the acceptability of strawberries to the consumer. However, there emerged a combined effect of cv. and mulching film, as the performance of biodegradable films (N18 and N5) compared to PE was more evident for Elide than for Sabrina cv. In fact, in Elide cv., some VOCs with a positive impact on the \"sweet\" taste sensation and consumers' preference were positively associated with strawberries produced on N18 and N5 mulching films. In turn, Sabrina responded positively only to N18, which induced the production of a higher number of sweetness-enhancing volatiles compared to PE and N5. Moreover, the up-regulation of VOCs directly related to consumers' preferences improved the perceived quality of the fruit cultivated on the biodegradable mulches in spite of a slightly lower \"Brix value. This result is in agreement with the one recently reported for Elide, which had higher \"Brix values in fruits produced on PE than N5 and N18 [8]. However, although no univocal optimal VOCs profile can be connected with a high level of liking-associated compounds, and taking into account that the contribution of distinct VOCs to a characteristic aroma depends on both the intrinsic aroma threshold value (ATV) and its content, a correlation between sensory parameters and the patterns of VOCs could help to define possible relationships within the multiple aspects of complex biosystems, such as fruit. As a result, the characterization of the VOCs related to the sensory perception of Elide and Sabrina strawberries require further trials aiming to combine the information supplied by the chemical characterization of VOCs with the odour perception by gas-chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O), which is a valuable tool to elucidate the aroma active components, and/or to analyse the linkage of aroma or aroma/taste in all samples.  
In conclusion, the explorative results here described might be of interest for producers to identify putative volatile markers useful for the objective assessment of the effects of mulding type on metabolic activity of fruits and to enhance the strawberry sensory perception and satisfy consumers' preference.  
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agronomy12102514/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agronomy12102514/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agronomy12102514/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agronomy12102514/s1)), Table S1: VOCs analysis of Elide cultivar; ID is the identifier of the VOC and annotation specifies its chemical name; data are reported as median (5 th percentile-95 th percentile); \(p\) is the \(p\)-value of the pair comparison calculated by LME; \(\ast\) is used to indicate significant differences applying Bonferroni correction with \(\alpha=0.05\).; Table S2: VOCs analysis of Sabrina cultivar; ID is the identifier of the VOC and annotation specifies its chemical name; data are reported as median (5 th percentile-95 th percentile); \(p\) is the \(p\)-value of the pair comparison calculated by LME; \(\ast\) is used to indicate significant differences applying Bonferroni correction with \(\alpha=0.05\).  
Conceptualization, R.C., G.P., L.M. and M.P., and L.M. ([PERSON]); methodology, software, and validation, R.C., F.S., G.P., L.M. ([PERSON]), and M.S. ([PERSON]); formal analysis, G.A.; investigation, R.C., E.M., M.S., and M.S. ([PERSON]); writing--original draft preparation, R.C. and M.S. ([PERSON]); writing--review and editing, R.C. and G.P.; supervision, R.C., G.P., and L.M. ([PERSON]). All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research received no external funding.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.