Physicochemical characteristic and internal browning of pineapple as affected by calcium and gibberellic acid dipping application

Abstract

postharvest applications of Calcium and gibberellic acid have proved to maintain optimal fruit quality and control decay during cold storage. This study evaluated the effect of calcium and gibberellic acid dipping application on pineapple quality and internal browning. The experiment implemented two factors. The first factor concerning two dipping times (five and ten minutes) and the second factor related to four treatments, A (gibberellic acid), B (calcium), C (calcium + gibberellic), and control (D) - (no calcium or gibberellic acid applied). Total soluble solids (TSS), total acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, sugar, citric and ascorbic acid content, together with browning severity and incidence, were determined. Treatment B, essentially using a dipping time of five minutes, delivered the best performance having the lowest severity and incidence of browning (4.44 and 22.22 %, respectively), the highest citric acid (0.61 %), ascorbic acid content (405.18 mg kg-1) and TSS/TA ratio (25.53). Meanwhile, the other treatments were considered less satisfactory, due to their highest browning severity and incidence, without remarkable impact on the citric acid and ascorbic acid content, especially with a dipping time of ten minutes. In conclusion, dipping applications of calcium and gibberellic in postharvest enhanced pineapple quality and reduced the internal browning.