Effects of postharvest treatments in ruby red grapefruit quality.

A.M. SANCHO; SILVINA GUIDI; BIOLATTO A; ADRIANA PAZOS; GRIGIONI G

Mar del Plata

Congreso; AIC Interim Meeting 2010. Color and Food: from the farm to the table; 2010

International Color Association

Low-temperature storage is the most important method to reduce postharvest decay and to maintain the organoleptic and nutritional quality of fruits. Cold quarantine treatment, which involves the exposure of fruit to near-freezing temperatures for a specified period, is a procedure accepted for Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wied) citrus disinfestations in restrictive markets. This procedure is currently applied on commercial scale. However, many citrus cultivars, particularly grapefruit, are sensitive to chilling injury; and may develop peel injury when exposed to cold treatment that greatly reduces fruit marketability. Ruby Red (Citrus paradise Macf.) grapefruits were submitted to postharvest treatments as described in the table. In each stage, color index calculated as CI = (1000.a*)/(L*.b*) using a Byk Garden color view model 9000 with D65 illuminant and large vision area was measurement. Also some physiological variables were analyzed: juice percentage (J%) and deformation index (DI) by means of an Instron tests machine. Data was analyzed using ANOVA considering stage and treatment effects, using SPSS® (v 12.0 Illinois, USA). CI, J% and DI showed significant differences (p