Articles
THE EFFECT OF POSTHARVEST TREATMENTS ON STORAGE DURATION OF CANTALOUPES
Fruit was then packed into perforated polyethylene bags for cold storage.
Controls were treated with benomyl or hot water but stored unpacked.
Melons were placed into cold rooms set at 2°C and 85 to 90% RH. Over a 6-week storage period, weight loss, titratable acidity (TA), fruit firmness, pectin esterase (PE) activity, infection rate, sensory quality (taste) and infection source determinations were carried out at weekly intervals.
Alternaria spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., Mucor spp. Botrytis cinerea and Aspergillus spp. were found to be present in infected fruit.
The highest fungal growth was observed for packed control fruit.
Hot water-treated packed and unpacked melons showed the second and third highest infection rates, respectively.
Packaging reduced weight loss significantly.
Treated fruit placed in bags showed less weight loss than unpacked treated fruit.
Fruit softening was observed more quickly in the hot-water treated fruit.
PE activity was also the lowest in this treatment group.
While TA decreased in all samples during storage, unpacked fruit showed the fastest rate of decrease.
Benomyl-treated fruit scored the highest with respect to its postharvest quality.
Taking into account especially the rate of infection and weight loss, benomyl-treated unpacked fruit would appear to preserve cantaloupe quality for the longest period in comparison to other treatments.