ISHS Acta Horticulturae 492: I International Symposium on Cucurbits
DETERMINATION OF MECHANICAL INJURY AND EFFECTS OF BRUISING ON THE POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF CANTALOUPES |
| Authors: | N. HALLORAN, M. Ufuk KASIM, R. ÇAGIRAN |
| Keywords: | Cantaloupe, computerized tomography, storage, quality, mechanical injury |
| Abstract:
Cantaloupes were examined by Computerized tomography (CT) to obtain images of the extent to which they are subject to mechanical injury during or after the harvest period. Fruit (Galia F1 cv.) was dropped from a height of 50 cm to stimulate poor handling techniques, then placed in a 2°C room with 85 to 90 % RH. CT images were obtained immediately after harvest and at the end of the 35-day storage period. Additional studies included determination of weight loss, infection rate, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, fruit firmness and pectin esterase activity at weekly intervals during the cold storage. Results show that mechanical injury and senescence can be observed by CT, a nondestructive inspection technique. The other measurements showed that mechanical injury, not withstanding its effects on texture, causes increases in fruit metabolic activity. This treatment caused changes in PE activity, fruit firmness, acidity and TSS values. There were no significant differences with respect to weight loss and infection rate between damaged and control fruit. | |
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