Document Type : Research paper
Authors
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak, Iran
Abstract
Table grape is a non-climacteric fruit with a short shelf-life. The current study aimed at applying specific treatments to prolong its shelf-life and maintain qualitative characteristics during storage. In a factorial arrangement and a completely randomized design, the first factor was the storage period and the second factor was the combination of warm water treatments and gum arabic (GA). The fruits were stored at 5 °C and 80% relative humidity in permanent darkness. On days 0, 20, 40, and 60 of the storage period, seven berries from each replicate were randomly sampled and analyzed for physicochemical and qualitative parameters. The storage time negatively affected the qualities of ‘Bidane-h Ghermez’ table grape fruits. This deterioration in quality was countered by the application of warm water treatments and GA coating, especially by the 45 °C+GA 5% treatment. Compared to the uncoated control group, the application of 45 °C+GA 5% caused a better maintenance of vitamin C (30.43–160.00%), TSS/TA (19.76–21.57%), anthocyanin (37.40–57.75%), antioxidant activity (7.35–36.40%), total phenol (12.01–24.49%), and sensory attributes (66.66–248.50%) in the fruits during storage. Also, this treatment caused lower levels of weight loss (53.27–45.48%), H2O2 (9.90–26.55%), and malondialdehyde (8.84–27.92%). Therefore, the application of warm water treatments and GA coating, particularly at 45 °C+GA 5%, had a remarkable role in extending the shelf-life of table grape fruits. In addition to their effective role in storage, warm water and GA are especially recommended because of their low costs.
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