Addition of preservatives to minimally processed ‘BRS Kampai’ peaches (Prunus persica L.)

Abstract

Fruits that go through processes of sanitation, peeling, cutting and packaging, to be consumed soon afterwards, are called minimally processed fruits. Since fruit consumption is important in the human diet, consumers have looked for practicality in both preparation and consumption, a situation that includes minimally processed food. However, minimal processing can damage plant tissues, mainly by pulp browning and by accelerating changes in natural characteristics of the product. This study aimed at minimizing changes in minimally processed sliced peaches by immersing them in solutions which contained preservatives. The experiment was a completely randomized design in a 5x3 factorial scheme (5 anti-browning agents x 3 storage periods), with 4 trays per replicate and six slices of peaches in every replicate. Sliced fruits were treated with T1 = control (distilled water); T2 = ascorbic acid at 1% (m/v); T3 = sodium isoascorbate at 1% (m/v); T4 = ascorbic acid at 0.5% (m/v) + sodium isoascorbate at 0.5% (m/v); and T5 = citric acid at 0.5% (m/v) + sodium isoascorbate at 0.5% (m/v). Afterwards, they were placed on trays, covered with 9µ PVC film and stored at 4±1ºC for 0 (S1), 6 (S2) and 12 (S3) days. The following variables were evaluated: mass loss, pulp color, pulp firmness, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, rot spots, total phenols and antioxidant activity. The treatment that consisted of citric acid at 0.5% (m/v) + sodium isoascorbate at 0.5% (m/v) was the most efficient one to control oxidation; its values of browning indexes were the lowest ones, i. e., 15.62 (S1), 17.74 (S2) and 17.58 (S3). Besides, it kept the creamy-white color of the pulp throughout storage time.