Effects of Ozone Treatment on Postharvest Strawberry Quality

Abstract

The effect of ozone treatment on the postharvest quality of strawberry was evaluated. Strawberry fruits (Fragaria x ananassa Duch. cv. Camarosa) were stored at 2 degrees C in an atmosphere containing ozone (0.35 ppm). After 3 days at 2 degrees C, fruits were moved to 20 degrees C to mimic retail conditions (shelf life). The changes in several quality parameters such as fungal decay, color, sugar and acids distribution, and aroma were evaluated during the strawberries' shelf life. Ozone treatment was ineffective in preventing fungal decay in strawberries after 4 days at 20 degrees C. Significant differences in sugars and ascorbic acid content were found in ozone-treated strawberries. At the end of cold storage, the vitamin C content of ozonated strawberries was 3 times that of control fruits. A detrimental effect of ozone treatment on strawberry aroma was observed, with a 40% reduced emission of volatile esters in ozonated fruits.

Proficiency of Post-harvest Treatments in Maintaining Sensory and Organoleptic Quality Attributes of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) during Ambient Storage

“…2 ppm ozonization recorded minimum browning with scores of 3.86 and 4.10 and the highest mean score of 4.90 and 5.00 for control (without any pre-treatment) after 4 th and 5 th day of storage respectively (Table 1). Similar results were reported by Barth et al, (1995) in blackberries and Perez et al, (1999) in strawberries.…”

Effectiveness of Ozone Gas Application Methods against Combined Multi-Contaminants in Food

“…As a very reactive oxidizing agent, O 3 has proved effective against a broad spectrum of living organisms and chemicals. It kills bacteria, fungi, yeasts, viruses and protozoa [17,18,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] storage pests, such as insects & mites. It also has the potential to degrade mycotoxins, pesticides and toxic chemical wastes [2, 7-9, 26, 29-34].…”

Susceptibility of the In-shell Brazil Nut Mycoflora and Aflatoxin Contamination to Ozone Gas Treatment during Storage

“…Oztekin et al (2006) reported reduction of microorganism counts on dried figs at a minimum of 3 hours treatment at 5 mg/l of O 3 , decreasing the total yeast/fungi counts of 72%. In post-harvest of strawberry, Perez et al (1999) observed fungal decay after 4 days of storage under ozonation. Lanita & da Silva (2008) utilized O 3 for controlling fungi in Parmesan cheese maturation (total fungi count reduced from 10 to 3.7 cfu/plate).…”

“…It can be applied to food as a gas or dissolved in water. The main purposes of O 3 application at the post-harvest stage are as follows: inactivation of bacterial growth (Sharma et al, 2002), prevention of fungal decay (Perez et al, 1999;Olmez et al, 2009) destruction of pesticides and chemical residues (Hwang et al, 2001) and control of storage pests (Kells et al, 2001). The attractive aspect of O 3 is that it decomposes rapidly (half-life of 20-50 min) to molecular oxygen without leaving a residue (Kells et al, 2001).…”