SENSORY AND FIRMNESS MEASUREMENTS OF CALCIUM‐ AND HEAT‐TREATED APPLES

'Golden Delicious' apples were held at 38C for 0 or 4 days and treated with 0 or 0.14 mol L -1 CaCl 2 2 H 2 O, stored at 0C for six months, and then held at 20C for 7 days. Texture and quality were measured by nondestructive sonic vibration, Magness-Taylor (MT) puncture and axial compression of tissue specimens using a force/deformation testing instrument, and sensory evaluation by untrained panelists. Prestorage treatment with heat, calcium, or the combination significantly improved the poststorage firmness over that of untreated control fruit. MT firmness values and crispness scores were higher for heat-treated apples than for controls, but the Ca and combination treatments resulted in significantly higher values. Calcium infiltration significantly increased sensory hardness and overall acceptability scores, as well as the location of the maximum force in compression, regardless of heat treatment. Apples exposed to heat before storage were sweeter than those not heated. Only the controls were scored in the unacceptable range for crispness and overall acceptability. Crispness mean scores could be predicted by the destructive puncture and compression tests (r 2 = 0.93) and to a moderate level by the nondestructive sonic vibration test (r2 = 0.72). None of the instrument measurements adequately predicted acceptability scores. Although calcium infiltration resulted in the best poststorage quality, prestorage heat treatments may provide a practical, economical means of improving poststorage quality of apples.

[1]  D. R. Massie,et al.  Sensory and Instrument Measurement of Apple Texture , 1984, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science.

[2]  H. M. Couey.  Heat Treatment for Control of Postharvest Diseases and Insect Pests of Fruits , 1989, HortScience.

[3]  J. Abbott,et al.  ADDITIVE EFFECTS OF POSTHARVEST CALCIUM AND HEAT TREATMENT ON REDUCING DECAY AND MAINTAINING QUALITY IN APPLES , 1994 .

[4]  C. Sams,et al.  Effect of Calcium Infiltration on Ethylene Production, Respiration Rate, Soluble Polyuronide Content, and Quality of ‘Golden Delicious’ Apple Fruit , 1984, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science.

[5]  J. Stow.  Effect of calcium ions on apple fruit softening during storage and ripening , 1993 .

[6]  S. Lurie,et al.  The effect of heat treatment on apple epicuticular wax and calcium uptake , 1996 .

[7]  C. Sams,et al.  Calcium Infiltration of Golden Delicious Apples and Its Effect on Decay , 1983 .

[8]  K. Scott,et al.  Effects of Vacuum and Pressure Infiltration of Calcium Chloride and Storage Temperature on the Incidence of Bitter Pit and Low Temperature Breakdown of Apples , 1979 .

[9]  A. Nussinovitch,et al.  Compression characteristics, firmness, and texture perception of heat treated and unheated apples , 1996 .

[10]  J. Robert Cooke,et al.  An Interpretation of the Resonant Behavior of Intact Fruits and Vegetables , 1972 .

[11]  John W. Hall,et al.  Analysis of variation and multivariate relationships among analytical and sensory characteristics in whole apple evaluation , 1995 .

[12]  J. Abbott,et al.  Firmness and decay of apples following postharvest pressure infiltration of calcium and heat treatment , 1993 .

[13]  Susan Lurie,et al.  Prestorage heat treatment as a means of improving poststorage quality of apples. , 1990 .

[14]  S. Lurie,et al.  Time, Temperature, and Calcium Interact in Scald Reduction and Firmness Retention in Heated Apples , 1994 .

[15]  B. L. Upchurch,et al.  Nondestructive Sonic Firmness Measurement of Apples , 1995 .

[16]  J. Abbott,et al.  Sensory evaluation of heated and calcium-treated fruits , 1998 .

[17]  K. Kovács,et al.  Postharvest Heat Treatment of Apples to Control San Jose Scale (Quadraspidiotus perniciosus Comstock) and Blue Mold (Penicillium expansum Link) and Maintain Fruit Firmness , 1998 .