Improving postharvest strawberry fruit quality with carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide at high ambient temperatures
A.F. Al-Jamali, M.T. Bani Hani
ISHS Acta Horticulturae 741:181-187. 2007.
2007
บทคัดย่อ
Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) are one of the most perishable of fresh commodities. To investigate the effects of modified atmosphere on strawberry fruit quality and shelf life, strawberry fruits were kept in the open air or in 120 L barrels in air, 20kPa carbon dioxide or 100kPa nitrous oxide for 4, 5, 6 and 7 days at ambient temperatures (10-20°C minimum–maximum) and 88% relative humidity. Strawberry fruits kept in CO2 and N2O inhibited fungal growth even after fruit were removed from storage compared with controls. Fungal growth in the CO2 treatment appeared more rapidly than in the N2O treatment. For quality attributes, total soluble solids (TSS, mainly sugars) increased in CO2 and N2O treatments more than both air controls. Titratable acidity (TA) decreased in N2O treatment more than CO2 treatment and both of these in turn had lower acid than the control treatments. Acceptability depends upon personal taste but usually a balance between sweetness and acidity (TSS/TA), within a range not to be exceeded either way, is desirable. Treatments that increase sweetness may be useful especially for acid cultivars. Both CO2 and N2O increased this ratio (sweetness) and would be considered beneficial.