Quality changes of minimally processed honeydew melons stored in air or controlled atmosphere
Silvina I. Portela and Marita I. Cantwell
Postharvest Biology and Technology. Vol. 14, Issue 3. 1998. pp. 315-357.
1998
บทคัดย่อ
Pieces (18×35 mm cylinders) were prepared from sanitized
fruits of four honeydew melon varieties (Green Flesh, Morning Ice, Rico, RML
2704) harvested at typical commercial maturity. Pieces were stored in air or
controlled atmosphere (CA=air+15% CO2) at 5°C and
evaluated for sensory quality, firmness, color and soluble solids concentration
(SSC) after 0, 6 and 12 days. Significant variation was found among varieties
in SSC (9.9¯12.2%), firmness (14.0¯19.9
N), and chroma (10.4¯19.0), hue angle (115¯113)
and L* (63.7¯66.8) color values of pieces on day 0. Pieces
from the four varieties averaged 10 N firmness loss from day 0 to 12 and CA
reduced loss significantly in only one variety. During air storage color saturation
decreased only in pieces from varieties with high initial chroma (C) values.
Average 
C
between days 0 and 12 was -3.7 for air-stored vs -1.0 for CA-stored pieces.
Average L*
was -5.8 and -1.4 for the same conditions, respectively. SSC were maintained
during storage in air or CA. Pieces stored in 15% CO2 had higher
visual quality scores than those stored in air. In addition, CA storage greatly
reduced development of macroscopic decay, translucency and off-odors.