Effects of rind removal on physicochemical quality characteristics of fresh‐cut watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb) Matsum & Nakai] during cold storage

Abstract

Summary The impact of removing the rind from fresh‐cut watermelon slices was assessed on the quality of the product during storage at 4 °C for 9 days. Flesh lycopene declined from 55.4 to 47.9 mg kg−1 f.w. and colour lightness (L*) increased from 43.2 to 45.8 after 2 days of storage. Initial heart and placental flesh firmness increased from 7.3 and 9.8 N, respectively, to 9.5 and 12.8 N after 9 days, but were unaffected by rind processing. Electrolyte leakage from placental tissue was unaffected by storage and rind. Rind presence limited juice run‐off by 47.2% and maintained mean total soluble sugar concentration in the slices at 86.0 mg mL−1 as opposed to 76.8 mg mL−1 in rind‐less slices. Change in the quality was most pronounced between 0 and 2 day of storage. Removing the rind accelerated senescence and off‐flavour production, while the presence of rind improved the overall storage stability of fresh‐cut watermelon slices.

Configuration of watermelon fruit quality in response to rootstock‐mediated harvest maturity and postharvest storage

“…The rest of the homogenate was instantly frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80 °C for further analyses. Lycopene was determined according to the spectrophotometric method of Fish and Davis with slight modifications . Approximately 0.5 g of homogenate was weighed directly into amber glass vials kept on crushed ice, containing 5 mL of 0.5 g L −1 butylated hydroxytoluene in acetone, 5 mL of ethanol (995 mL L −1 ) and 10 mL of hexane.…”

“…Lycopene was determined according to the spectrophotometric method of Fish and Davis 17 with slight modifications. 18 Approximately 0.5 g of homogenate was weighed directly into amber glass vials kept on crushed ice, containing 5 mL of 0.5 g L −1 butylated hydroxytoluene in acetone, 5 mL of ethanol (995 mL L −1 ) and 10 mL of hexane. After 15 min of orbital shaking at 3.0 × g in the dark, 3 mL of deionized water was added to each vial and additional shaking for 5 min was performed.…”

Visible light exposure reduces the drip loss of fresh-cut watermelon

“…Fresh-cut watermelon has a crispy texture and refreshing flavor, and provides both moisture and sucrose (McGlynn et al 2003;Petrou et al 2013). The shelf life of fresh-cut watermelon is usually 4-7 days, depending on the cultivars, transportation, and shelf conditions (Artés-Hernández et al 2010;Cai et al 2015;Fonseca and Rushing 2006;Mao et al 2006;Robert et al 2007).…”

Influence of multiple environmental factors on the quality and flavor of watermelon juice

“…9 In one study, lycopene levels of fresh-cut watermelon slices without rinds declined from 55.4 to 47.9 mg kg À1 fresh weight (FW) and the L* value increased from 43.2 to 45.8 aer 2 days of storage at 4 C, and removing rinds accelerated senescence. 10 In addition, pasteurization at 87.7 C for 20 s and storage for up to 30 days at 4 or 8 C has been shown to signicantly reduce the red color and levels of bioactive compounds (lycopene, antioxidant capacity and total polyphenols) of watermelon juice, particularly if the storage time is extended and a temperature of 8 C was used. 11 Also, ultrahigh-temperature treatment (120 and 135 C) has been shown to inactivate microbial colonies and maintain the original color of watermelon juice, and to maintain the phenolic content by reducing polyphenol oxidase activity.…”

“…No substantial changes have been observed in the initial content of hexanal, (E)-2-nonenal, nonanal, or (Z)-6-nonenal aer thermal treatment at 90 C for 30 s, whereas the content of 6-methyl-5hepten-2-one, geranylacetone, 1-nonanol, and (Z)-3-nonen-1-ol increase slightly. 19 Fresh-cut watermelon removing the rind has slightly perceptible off-avor aer 9 days of storage at 4 C. 10 Based on the mean hedonic ratings of color, avor and overall acceptability, watermelon-juice samples stored at 4 C for 20 days are at the limit of marketability through sensory evaluation. 11 Conventionally, high temperature is used to inactivate microorganisms and enzymes, which leads to instability in the compounds associated with watermelon-juice avor during juice processing and storage.…”