Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8881981 | Postharvest Biology and Technology | 2018 | 10 Pages |
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of treating cucumbers with short hot water dipping at 45 (SHW45) and 55â¯Â°C (SHW55) for 5â¯min compared to fruit dipped in 25â¯Â°C water (C). The purpose was to alleviate chilling injury, prevent decay, maintain sensory quality and induce antioxidant enzymes during storage. The cucumbers were held at 4â¯Â°C for 7, 14 and 21 d and shelf life at 20â¯Â°C for 2 and 4 d. Weight loss, appearance, decay, color, firmness, taste, soluble solids content (SSC), chilling injury (CI), total, reducing and non-reducing sugars, phenolics, electrolyte leakage (EL), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activity were measured. The results revealed that SHW55 treatment had the lowest weight loss, CI, EL and POD activity, and had the best appearance, color, taste, and the highest CAT activity during cold storage and shelf life compared with C and SHW45. However, no significant effects were found between C, SHW45 and SHW55 on total, reducing sugars and SSC. No decay appeared on cucumber fruit with SHW55 treatment during the storage period. It may be possible to use SHW55 in a packinghouse as a safe commercial treatment to maintain quality, prevent decay and mitigate chilling injury, prolong storage period and possibility to store cucumber fruit at a non-optimal low temperature.
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Authors
Ibrahim N. Nasef,