Effect of Controlled Atmospheres and Environmental Conditions on the Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Sweet Cherry Cultivar Satin

Sweet cherry is a highly appreciated seasonal fruit with a high content of bioactive compounds; however, this highly perishable fruit has a relatively short shelf-life period. Here, we evaluated the evolution of the physicochemical and sensory qualities of sweet cherries (Prunus avium (L.) cv. Satin) under different storage conditions, namely at a Farmers’ Organization (FO) and in a Research Centre (RC) under normal and four different conditions of controlled atmosphere for 49 days. Additional parameters were monitored, such as rotten fruit incidence and stem appearance. Temperature was the factor that most influenced the fruit quality changes over the study time. In fact, fruits stored at higher mean temperatures showed higher weight loss, higher variation in CIE-Lab colour parameters, higher firmness loss, and browner and more dehydrated stems and were less appealing to the consumer. Controlled atmosphere conditions showed a smaller decrease in CIE-Lab colour parameters and lower weight loss. The incidence of rotting was very low and was always equal or lower than 2% for all conditions. Thus, RC chamber conditions were able to sustain fruit quality parameters over 28 days under normal atmosphere conditions and 49 days under controlled atmosphere conditions.

[1]  A. P. Silva,et al.  Cracking in Sweet Cherry Cultivars Early Bigi and Lapins: Correlation with Quality Attributes , 2020, Plants.

[2]  G. Alves,et al.  Physical and phytochemical composition of 23 Portuguese sweet cherries as conditioned by variety (or genotype). , 2020, Food chemistry.

[3]  B. Oomah,et al.  Sweet and sour cherries: Origin, distribution, nutritional composition and health benefits , 2019, Trends in Food Science & Technology.

[4]  Xiaoping Zhang,et al.  Effect of pressurized argon combined with controlled atmosphere on the postharvest quality and browning of sweet cherries , 2019, Postharvest Biology and Technology.

[5]  E. Dziedzic,et al.  Postharvest properties of sweet cherry fruit depending on rootstock and storage conditions , 2017 .

[6]  Q. Vuong,et al.  Sweet cherry: Composition, postharvest preservation, processing and trends for its future use , 2016 .

[7]  Yonghua Zheng,et al.  Enhancement of storage quality and antioxidant capacity of harvested sweet cherry fruit by immersion with β-aminobutyric acid , 2016 .

[8]  A. Güneyli,et al.  Determination of Optimum Harvest Date of Sweet Cherry cv. Lapins Grown in Isparta , 2014 .

[9]  Alejandro Hernández,et al.  Study of microbiological quality of controlled atmosphere packaged 'Ambrunés' sweet cherries and subsequent shelf-life. , 2013, International journal of food microbiology.

[10]  C. Thomson,et al.  Cherries and Health: A Review , 2010, Critical reviews in food science and nutrition.

[11]  B. Akbudak,et al.  Evaluation of messenger plant activator as a preharvest and postharvest treatment of sweet cherry fruit under a controlled atmosphere , 2009, International journal of food sciences and nutrition.

[12]  Daniel Valero,et al.  The use of natural antifungal compounds improves the beneficial effect of MAP in sweet cherry storage , 2005 .

[13]  S. Tian,et al.  Responses of physiology and quality of sweet cherry fruit to different atmospheres in storage , 2004 .

[14]  A. Ferrer,et al.  Atmosphere composition effects on Burlat cherry colour during cold storage , 2004 .

[15]  J. Stow,et al.  Storage of cherries: the effects of rate of cooling, store atmosphere and store temperature on storage and shelf-life , 2004 .

[16]  J. Harb,et al.  Impact of controlled atmosphere storage conditions on storability and consumer acceptability of sweet cherries ‘Regina’ , 2003 .

[17]  S. Vestrheim,et al.  Controlled Atmosphere Storage of Sweet Cherries (Prunus avium L.) , 2002 .

[18]  F. Dugan,et al.  Pre‐harvest Fungal Colonization Affects Storage Life of Bing Cherry Fruit , 1997 .

[19]  Carlos H. Crisosto,et al.  Stone fruit maturity indices: a descriptive review , 1994 .

[20]  Daniel E. Guyer,et al.  PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF SELECTED MICHIGAN SWEET CHERRY (Prunus avium L.) CULTIVARS , 1993 .