Enzymatic activity and post-harvest quality of ‘Galia’ melon under storage temperatures and modified atmosphere

Abstract

AGRONOMY (AGRONOMIA) ABSTRACT: 'Galia' melon is a climacteric fruit with reduced shelf life, thus the goal of this work was to evaluate the post-harvest quality of fruits stored under normal and modified atmosphere at different temperatures. Fruits from cultivar Solarnet were stored under normal atmosphere (control) and modified atmosphere at 3, 7 and 11 o C and relative humidity of 90 ± 5%. Fruit evaluations were performed at 14, 21, 28 and 35 days of storage for pulp firmness, mass loss, internal and external appearance, chilling injury, total soluble phenolics, soluble sugars and enzymes polyphenoloxidase, peroxidase and catalase. Storage at 11 o C had the lowest pulp firmness and bigger mass loss in both atmospheres. Storage at 3 o C under modified atmosphere had the best postharvest conservation, but induced chilling injury, with development of superficial brown spots. 'Galia' melons showed higher peroxidase activity under storage at 3 °C in both storage atmospheres.

Extended shelf life of melons using chitosan and graphene oxide‐based biodegradable bags

“…Véras et al. (2019) investigated the effect of microperforated polyethylene bags on the quality of “Galia” melon fruits under cold storage and observed that the fruits remained with satisfactory commercial quality at the 35 days of storage.…”

“…Traditionally, melons of Cantaloupensis group have been commercialized in microperforated polyethylene packages, which create an internal modified atmosphere and prolong its shelf life (Ferreira, Aroucha, Medeiros, Nascimento, & Paiva, 2018;Véras et al, 2019).…”

“…Unpackaged fruits showed higher decreases at 21 + 6 days compared to zero time, although all fruits received internal appearance scores within the quality limits for commercialization (internal appearance > 3.0) ( Figure 5a). Véras et al (2019) investigated the effect of microperforated polyethylene bags on the quality of "Galia" melon fruits under cold storage and observed that the fruits remained with satisfactory commercial quality at the 35 days of storage.…”

“…However, Galia melon is a fruit with climacteric behavior, high respiration rate, and high perishability (Li, 2019), so effective technologies are necessary to preserve its postharvest quality for a long time, since these fruits have a postharvest shelf life of approximately 14 days (Lester & Stein, 1993). Cold storage decreases the metabolism processes of the fruit, but when it is associated with packaging, there are better results (Véras, Leno, Araújo, Junior, & Finger, 2019).…”

“…Traditionally, melons of Cantaloupensis group have been commercialized in microperforated polyethylene packages, which create an internal modified atmosphere and prolong its shelf life (Ferreira, Aroucha, Medeiros, Nascimento, & Paiva, 2018; Véras et al., 2019). Despite being a widespread technology and with satisfactory results in maintaining fruit quality (Morais, Silva, Maia, & Menezes, 2009; Souza et al., 2008), these packages are made from petroleum‐based polymers, which are non‐biodegradable and slow to decompose, taking until 450 years in a landfill, causing several environmental impacts on ecosystems and consequently on human health (Kreiger, Mulder, Glover, & Pearce, 2014).…”