Combined pre-storage heat treatment and controlled atmosphere storage reduced internal breakdown of ‘Flavorcrest’ peach
R. Murray, C. Lucangeli, G. Polenta and C. Budde
Postharvest Biology and Technology, Volume 44, Issue 2, May 2007, Pages 116-121
2007
บทคัดย่อ
Chilling injury is a limiting factor for commercial life of peach fruit (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch). High CO2 controlled atmosphere storage (CA) is a proven technology to overcome the disorder, while pre-storage heat treatment appear like an emerging alternative although showing some undesirable side effects. The objective of this experiment was to combine both CA and pre-storage heat treatment to improve control of chilling injury. ‘Flavorcrest’ fruit were heat treated for 24 h at 39 ± 1 °C (HT) or maintained at 0 ± 1 °C (HC) followed by cold storage with two levels of CA, 5% O2 + 15% CO2 (MI); 5% O2 + 20% CO2 (MA) or air (AIR). Firmness, juice content and flesh color were evaluated 4 days after harvest and after 3 and 4 weeks of storage. Control fruit (HC + AIR) showed “leatheriness” after 3 weeks; by this time HT, MI and MA, alone or combined were enough to overcome the problem; by 4 weeks only fruit receiving MI or MA softened adequately. Combined treatments were useful for improving juiciness and were the only alternative to reach 4 weeks with commercial quality. Although heat treated fruit had generally redder flesh than others, this side effect was reduced by CA.