TITLE:
Changes in Physicochemical and Sensory Qualities of “Goha” Strawberries Treated with Different Conditions of Carbon Dioxide
AUTHORS:
Dulal Chandra, Ae Jin Choi, Jung Soo Lee, Jinsu Lee, Ji Gang Kim
KEYWORDS:
Carbon Dioxide, Firmness, Quality, Strawberry, Storage
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.6 No.3,
March
12,
2015
ABSTRACT: Harvested strawberry fruit is highly perishable because of its soft
texture and microbial infestation during postharvest handling. The applications
of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas on the quality parameters of strawberry
harvested in winter season have shown better effects in several studies.
However, very little information is available for the same in summer harvested strawberry.
This study was aimed at finding an optimum concentration and duration of CO2 treatment in strawberry fruit var. “Goha” harvested in summer season to
increase or maintain postharvest qualities. Fresh strawberries were treated
with 15%, 30% and 50% CO2 for 1 or 3 h and then stored at 4?C for up
to 13 days along with untreated control. Strawberry samples treated with 50% CO2 for 1 or 3 h and both 15% and 30% for 3 h had higher firmness than samples
treated with both 15% and 30% for 1 h and control. In general, total soluble
solids (TSS) slightly increased or maintained during storage in all samples
except control. The values of pH slightly declined whereas titratable acidity
showed opposite trends. However, there was no significant difference found
among CO2 treated samples. Lightness (L*) of “Goha” samples with no CO2 treatment decreased
gradually while it was almost maintained in CO2 treated
strawberries. Strawberry samples treated with 15% CO2 for 3 h
maintained better quality with higher scores of overall quality and visual
texture until 9 days of storage. Samples treated with 15% CO2 for 3
h also received lower softening scores until 9 days of storage compared to
other CO2 treated samples. These results showed that 15% CO2 for 3 h condition could be an effective postharvest treatment for maintaining
quality of “Goha” strawberry.