The addition of geraniol to the core of Jonathan apples susceptible to storage breakdown, caused a reduction in the level of volatile terpenoid compounds, and induced breakdown in the fruit. No free geraniol was detected in the flesh tissue, and it is suggested that geraniol is rapidly converted to a non-volatile compound which affected the production of the volatile compounds. a-Farnesene was tentatively indentified as the major component, and its level in the fruit was greatly reduced by geraniol. No other terpenoid compound was found to be as effective as geraniol in inducing breakdown.