Fresh-cut watermelon treated with UV-C light: evolution of color, firmness and gas headspace during storage at 10ºC

ARIAS GORMAN, A.M.; OJEDA, GONZALO; SGROPPO S.C; PEREYRA, MARIA VICTORIA

Viena

Congreso; ISEKI Food 2016; 2016

ISEKI

Watermelons (Citrullus vulgaris) are prized fruits because of their nutritional quality and flavor, but its size does not make them appropriate for individual consumption. Therefore, marketing them as a fresh-cut product is of interest and requires proper organoleptic characteristics, such as good color, fleshy and firm tissue. The UV-C light, a physic and clean technology, could be an alternative to prevent undesirable changes in this product. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of UV-C light treatments on color, firmness and gas headspace composition during refrigerated storage of minimally processed watermelons.The inner tissue of the watermelons was cut into cubes of 3.5cm side and subjected to exposure to UV-C light with doses of 2.09 (T1) and 4.02 (T2) kJ / m2, placed on trays, covered with PVC film and stored at 10 °C. The storage assay was repeated twice. At initial time and every 2 days during the 8 days of storage, the samples were removed to determinate superficial color (Colorimeter, Minolta CR400, Japan), firmness (Texture analyzer, Shimadzu EZ-LX5kN, Japan) and gas headspace (Servoflex Minifood Pack 5200 Analyzer, United Kingdom). All determinations were made by quadruplicate, the results analyzed by ANOVA and the Fisher?s test to separate means (p