Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit

Despite Italy is second only to Mexico for fresh production of cactus pears worldwide, postharvest handling and treatments are quite simply, being fruit immediately marketed after harvest. However, as the demand for fresh fruit beyond the harvesting period is constantly growing, in the next future t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Salvatore D’Aquino, Daniela Satta, Luciano De Pau, Amedeo Palma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIMS Press 2019-01-01
Series:AIMS Agriculture and Food
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/agrfood.2019.1.114/fulltext.html
_version_ 1818011155391578112
author Salvatore D’Aquino
Daniela Satta
Luciano De Pau
Amedeo Palma
author_facet Salvatore D’Aquino
Daniela Satta
Luciano De Pau
Amedeo Palma
author_sort Salvatore D’Aquino
collection DOAJ
description Despite Italy is second only to Mexico for fresh production of cactus pears worldwide, postharvest handling and treatments are quite simply, being fruit immediately marketed after harvest. However, as the demand for fresh fruit beyond the harvesting period is constantly growing, in the next future the cactus pear industry likely will have to adopt postharvest treatments and technologies that can widen the marketable window. Yet, the potential exploitation of new markets in countries where the introduction of pests like Mediterranean fruit fly are considered risky, can be achieved only if fruit are subjected to approved quarantine protocols. Of the three main cultivated varieties (‘Bianca’, ‘Gialla’ and ‘Rossa’) limited studies concerning cold storage have been done mainly on fruit of cv ’Gialla’, while knowledge on response to cold quarantine treatments lacks for all cultivars. Thus this study was undertaken to get knowledge on postharvest behavior of the three main Italian cultivated cactus pears varieties, i.e. ‘Bianca’, ‘Gialla’ and ‘Rossa’ subjected to a cold quarantine treatment followed by either a week of simulated marketing conditions at 20 °C or by two additional weeks of storage at 8 °C before transfer to simulated marketing conditions at 20 °C for three days. These storage conditions so far are not practiced by packing houses as fruit are directly marketed after harvest, but could be a typical protocol in case fruit should be sold in countries that require approved cold quarantine treatments.<br /> Results showed an abnormal increase in respiratory activity and ethylene production rates following transfer from cold storage to 20 °C, especially after the two additional weeks of storage at 8 °C. Peel disorders and decay incidence were slight at the end of storage at 2 °C or 8 °C, but severe peel disorders developed when fruit were moved to 20 °C. Peel injury, decay incidence, the loss of overall appearance upon transfer to 20 °C were more severe in fruit stored for two additional weeks at 8 °C. Among the three cultivars, susceptibility to chilling injury and decay was higher in cv ‘Bianca’. Nevertheless, cold storage seems not to affect the chemical and sensory quality of fruit, whose changes were similar in all cultivars.
first_indexed 2024-04-14T06:04:06Z
format Article
id doaj.art-eaf9439d223641c68335828fd45dba89
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2471-2086
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-14T06:04:06Z
publishDate 2019-01-01
publisher AIMS Press
record_format Article
series AIMS Agriculture and Food
spelling doaj.art-eaf9439d223641c68335828fd45dba892022-12-22T02:08:39ZengAIMS PressAIMS Agriculture and Food2471-20862019-01-014111412610.3934/agrfood.2019.1.114Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruitSalvatore D’Aquino0Daniela Satta1Luciano De Pau2Amedeo Palma31 Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council, Sassari, Italy2 Agris Sardegna, Agricultural Research Agency of Sardinia—Department of Wood and Food Tree, Cagliari, Italy2 Agris Sardegna, Agricultural Research Agency of Sardinia—Department of Wood and Food Tree, Cagliari, Italy1 Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council, Sassari, ItalyDespite Italy is second only to Mexico for fresh production of cactus pears worldwide, postharvest handling and treatments are quite simply, being fruit immediately marketed after harvest. However, as the demand for fresh fruit beyond the harvesting period is constantly growing, in the next future the cactus pear industry likely will have to adopt postharvest treatments and technologies that can widen the marketable window. Yet, the potential exploitation of new markets in countries where the introduction of pests like Mediterranean fruit fly are considered risky, can be achieved only if fruit are subjected to approved quarantine protocols. Of the three main cultivated varieties (‘Bianca’, ‘Gialla’ and ‘Rossa’) limited studies concerning cold storage have been done mainly on fruit of cv ’Gialla’, while knowledge on response to cold quarantine treatments lacks for all cultivars. Thus this study was undertaken to get knowledge on postharvest behavior of the three main Italian cultivated cactus pears varieties, i.e. ‘Bianca’, ‘Gialla’ and ‘Rossa’ subjected to a cold quarantine treatment followed by either a week of simulated marketing conditions at 20 °C or by two additional weeks of storage at 8 °C before transfer to simulated marketing conditions at 20 °C for three days. These storage conditions so far are not practiced by packing houses as fruit are directly marketed after harvest, but could be a typical protocol in case fruit should be sold in countries that require approved cold quarantine treatments.<br /> Results showed an abnormal increase in respiratory activity and ethylene production rates following transfer from cold storage to 20 °C, especially after the two additional weeks of storage at 8 °C. Peel disorders and decay incidence were slight at the end of storage at 2 °C or 8 °C, but severe peel disorders developed when fruit were moved to 20 °C. Peel injury, decay incidence, the loss of overall appearance upon transfer to 20 °C were more severe in fruit stored for two additional weeks at 8 °C. Among the three cultivars, susceptibility to chilling injury and decay was higher in cv ‘Bianca’. Nevertheless, cold storage seems not to affect the chemical and sensory quality of fruit, whose changes were similar in all cultivars.https://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/agrfood.2019.1.114/fulltext.htmlcactus pear| ethylene production| physiological disorders| juice acidity| respiratory activity| weight loss
spellingShingle Salvatore D’Aquino
Daniela Satta
Luciano De Pau
Amedeo Palma
Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit
AIMS Agriculture and Food
cactus pear| ethylene production| physiological disorders| juice acidity| respiratory activity| weight loss
title Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit
title_full Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit
title_fullStr Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit
title_full_unstemmed Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit
title_short Effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit
title_sort effect of a cold quarantine treatment on physiological disorders and quality of cactus pear fruit
topic cactus pear| ethylene production| physiological disorders| juice acidity| respiratory activity| weight loss
url https://www.aimspress.com/article/10.3934/agrfood.2019.1.114/fulltext.html
work_keys_str_mv AT salvatoredaquino effectofacoldquarantinetreatmentonphysiologicaldisordersandqualityofcactuspearfruit
AT danielasatta effectofacoldquarantinetreatmentonphysiologicaldisordersandqualityofcactuspearfruit
AT lucianodepau effectofacoldquarantinetreatmentonphysiologicaldisordersandqualityofcactuspearfruit
AT amedeopalma effectofacoldquarantinetreatmentonphysiologicaldisordersandqualityofcactuspearfruit