Abstract
Plums are classified as a climacteric fruit with a high respiration rate between the end of their development and the start of the ripening process, thus making it necessary to apply techniques to preserve the organoleptic characteristics required for the product to have good market acceptance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of harvest maturity (states 2, 3, 4, and 5) and storage temperature (2, 4, and 18 °C) on the organoleptic and physicochemical quality and postharvest storage duration of ‘Horvin’ plums. The experimental design was completely randomized with a 4 x 3 factorial arrangement. The first factor corresponded to the stage of maturity, and the second one to refrigeration temperatures, for a total of 12 treatments. Every three or four days, fruit peel color, accumulated mass loss, respiratory intensity, firmness, pH, total titratable acidity, and total soluble solids were measured every during storage. Measurements were taken until the fruits lost their organoleptic quality. For most of the measured variables, the fruits stored at 2 °C and harvested in maturity stage 5 maintained the best postharvest quality during storage. The fruits without refrigeration only reached 10 days, while the fruits stored at 4 °C and 2 °C maintained quality of consumption for 24 and 31 days, respectively. Maturity stage 5 presented the highest values of accumulated mass loss, pH, total soluble solids, color index, maturity index, and respiratory intensity.
Highlights
Plums are classified as a climacteric fruit with a high respiration rate between the end of their development and the start of the ripening process, making it necessary to apply techniques to preserve the organoleptic characteristics required for the product to have good market acceptance
Maturity state 5 had the highest loss of mass after 10 dah, and reached 36,8%, compared to the other maturity stages, which, at the end of the postharvest period, had loss of mass ranging from 28,1% to 30,1%
The loss of mass increased almost linearly throughout the postharvest period, and fruits harvested in the earliest maturity stage had the lowest rates, similar to those found by Guerra and Casquero (2008)
Summary
Plums are classified as a climacteric fruit with a high respiration rate between the end of their development and the start of the ripening process, making it necessary to apply techniques to preserve the organoleptic characteristics required for the product to have good market acceptance. ‘Horvin’ plum fruits have great acceptance in markets because they have excellent organoleptic and nutritional characteristics Because it is a climacteric fruit, it can be harvested at physiological maturity, given that maturation continues during the postharvest period (Parra, Hernández, and Camacho, 2008). There are currently very little studies that have determined the optimum harvest maturity of ‘Horvin’ plums In most cases, these determinations have been carried out subjectively, based only on the size and peel color of the fruits, resulting in inconsistent organoleptic characteristics when marketing the product (Kaur, Sawhney, and Jawandha, 2018). These determinations have been carried out subjectively, based only on the size and peel color of the fruits, resulting in inconsistent organoleptic characteristics when marketing the product (Kaur, Sawhney, and Jawandha, 2018) This is the cause for the negative. Perception of the cultivar in a market with high demands and requirements regarding fruit quality (Kader, 2008)
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