EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE AND ACCESSION TYPE ON LYCOPENE STABILITY AND TOTAL PHENOLIC COMPOUND OF FRESH-CUT WATERMELON

Enhancement of watermelon germplasm for marketing traits is one of the major objectives of breeding programs.
The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the rate of lycopene stability and changes in total phenolic compound of different watermelon accessions in storage conditions.
Five accessions of watermelon cultivars representing hybrid and open-pollination types were harvested from the field and stored at different temperatures.
Descriptive sensory analysis was used to evaluate lycopene, phenol, hue, croma, lightness and color index at harvest day upon processing (0 day) and after days 7, 14 and 21 of storage at 0, 4, and 12°C. Lycopene, phenol, chroma and other attributes were affected by varying temperatures and type of accessions.
The Iranian watermelon accession indicated less reduction in lycopene amount than ‘Crimson Sweet’ during storage.
The temperature where all accessions showed more lycopene stability and least amount of total phenolic compound was 4°C. The result of this study demonstrated that cutting and storing of watermelon resulted in lycopene deterioration, however, accession type and genetic basis have a critical role to improve the fruit quality.
It is necessary to study and use local accession for breeding work in the future.

VII International Postharvest Symposium

M. Ebadi, F. Soltani , Y. Mostofi

descriptive sensory analysis, low temperature storage, colour, hybrid, open pollination

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.1012.127