Fragaria ananassa, generally known as strawberry is a nutritious fruit that is rich in polyphenols and widely consumed as part of a healthy diet. Anthocyanins have been found to be the main group of phenolic components present in strawberry with pelargonidin-3-glucoside as the major component in all strawberry cultivars studied. The main volatile component has been identified as caryophyllene oxide, a sesquiterpene compound that was present abundantly in all cultivars. The effect of preharvest spray applications of a formulation containing hexanal which is known to enhance membrane preservation, was evaluated using two strawberry cultivars, ‘Jewel’ and ‘Mira’. Our results suggest that preharvest spray application of hexanal formulation results in biochemical changes that alter the profile of phenolic compounds and the volatiles of the fruit. An osmotic infusion treatment was implemented to generate an intermediate moisture food product with high quality and enhanced storage life that can be potentially used in processed food. Infusing strawberry with other functional ingredients such as fructoligosaccharides, lecithin, and ascorbic acid showed that the infused strawberry produced by this technique was structurally and organoleptically similar to fresh strawberry, and visually similar to the intial fruits. Drying of infused fruits could extend their shelf life up to several months, while providing fruit products with superior nutritional qualities. Subjecting strawberry fruit extract to a simulated in vitro digestion of strawberry greatly affected the polyphenol composition and concentrations during different stages of digestion. The concentrations of most polyphenols increased during gastric digestion suggesting that the acidic environment of the stomach may help to release polyphenols that are bound to the strawberry matrix. Following incubation of the IN and the OUT fractions with colonic bacteria, the presence of urolithin B glucunoride in the IN fraction and the increase of ellagic acid deoxyhexoside in both the IN and OUT fractions after fermentation process, suggest that the polyphenols are catabolized into simple phenolic compounds in the colon. The remaining polyphenols as well as the catabolites in the gut, could potentially have a beneficial effect in enhancing colonial health. / Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia