Appearance and overall acceptability of fresh-cut cantaloupe pieces from whole melon treated with wet steam process

•Wet steam process of whole cantaloupes reduced total microbial transfer to the interior during fresh-cut preparation.•Wet steam process enhanced microbial safety of fresh-cut cantaloupe pieces.•Wet steam process also improved appearance and overall acceptability of the cut pieces.

Minimally processed fresh-cut fruits have a limited shelf-life because of deterioration caused by spoilage microflora and changes in physiological processes. Whole melons was inoculated with 107 CFU/ml of Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes to achieve 4.8, 4.5 and 4.1 log CFU/cm2, respectively on melon surfaces. The inoculated melons were treated with a wet steam processing unit for 180 s before fresh-cut preparation. Microbial safety was studied and the overall appearance and acceptability of the fresh-cut pieces were investigated by trained panelists. There were no visual signs of physical damage on all treated cantaloupe surfaces immediately after treatments and during storage. All fresh-cut pieces from treated cantaloupes were negative for bacterial pathogens while aerobic mesophilic bacteria were recovered. Appearance and overall acceptability of fresh-cut pieces from treated melons during 6 days at 5 °C were not significantly (p < 0.05) different from control pieces prepared from fresh melons but were significantly (p < 0.05) different from untreated pieces from day 0 under the same storage conditions for 14 days. The results of this study suggests that wet steam treatment of cantaloupes rind surfaces designated for fresh-cut preparation will enhance the microbial safety of fresh-cut pieces, and the overall acceptability of cut pieces.