Articles
Cactus pears postharvest disorders and quality as affected by storage temperature
Article number
1452_16
Pages
129 – 134
Language
English
Abstract
Freshly harvested agostani cactus pear fruit (‘Bianca’, ‘Gialla’ and ‘Sanguigna’) were grouped according to the following maturity stages: stage 1 (light-green); stage 2 corresponding to the commercial maturity stage (green-white for ‘Bianca’; green-yellow for ‘Gialla’; green-red for ‘Sanguigna’); stage 3 corresponding to an advanced stage of maturity (white-yellow for ‘Bianca; yellow-orange for ‘Gialla’; red for ‘Sanguigna’). The fruit was stored for 4 weeks at 5°C and 90-95% RH, plus one week at 20°C and 60-65% RH, or kept constantly at 20°C and 60-65% RH for 5 weeks.
Periodically, fruit was inspected for overall appearance, weight loss, and chemical parameters (pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids). At the end of the trial, the weight loss in fruit stored at 20°C was (on average) 9.4% whereas in those stored at 5°C was 5.5%. ‘Bianca’ exhibited the highest weight loss when stored at 20 or 5°C and ‘Rossa’ the lowest.
Weight loss seemed to decrease with the maturity stage, but differences were not significant.
Fruit stored at 5°C developed chilling injury symptoms as pitting and scald, especially in the green area of the peel and were susceptible to decay when moved at 20°C. Fruit held continually at 20°C developed pits in the peel which resembled those detected in fruit stored at 5°C, but only sporadically decayed.
Fruit of ‘Rossa’ cactus pear maintained a better overall appearance than ‘Gialla’ and particularly than ‘Bianca’ cactus pears.
The loss of overall appearance in fruit of stage 1 and stage 2 occurred at a slower rate than in those of stage 3. TSS did not show important changes with storage, whereas pH and titratable acidity increased and deceased, respectively, at a higher rate in fruit stored at 20°C. For short-term storage holding the fruit at room temperature with a RH of 60-65% for a couple of weeks can replace cold storage without important changes in fruit quality.
Periodically, fruit was inspected for overall appearance, weight loss, and chemical parameters (pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids). At the end of the trial, the weight loss in fruit stored at 20°C was (on average) 9.4% whereas in those stored at 5°C was 5.5%. ‘Bianca’ exhibited the highest weight loss when stored at 20 or 5°C and ‘Rossa’ the lowest.
Weight loss seemed to decrease with the maturity stage, but differences were not significant.
Fruit stored at 5°C developed chilling injury symptoms as pitting and scald, especially in the green area of the peel and were susceptible to decay when moved at 20°C. Fruit held continually at 20°C developed pits in the peel which resembled those detected in fruit stored at 5°C, but only sporadically decayed.
Fruit of ‘Rossa’ cactus pear maintained a better overall appearance than ‘Gialla’ and particularly than ‘Bianca’ cactus pears.
The loss of overall appearance in fruit of stage 1 and stage 2 occurred at a slower rate than in those of stage 3. TSS did not show important changes with storage, whereas pH and titratable acidity increased and deceased, respectively, at a higher rate in fruit stored at 20°C. For short-term storage holding the fruit at room temperature with a RH of 60-65% for a couple of weeks can replace cold storage without important changes in fruit quality.
Authors
S. DAquino, A. Palma
Keywords
Opuntia ficus-indica, physiological disorders, weight loss, marketable fruit, juice chemical composition
Groups involved
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