Quality Evaluation of the Ready-to-Eat Avocado cv. Hass

Abstract

Consumer interest in avocado fruit has increased in the last decade in Europe. Nutritional and quality attributes affect the choice of these fruits, whose characteristics must also be maintained in the postharvest period. The preference regarding the feasibility of eating ripe fruits can assure and improve the success of the emerging marketing of avocados. The exposure of fruits to exogenous ethylene (C2H4) treatment can accelerate the process of fruit ripening. The aim of this work was at improving the existing knowledge about the quality traits of avocado cv. Hass fruits at the ready-to-eat stage. The most important qualitative traits (weight loss, dry matter content, hardness pulp, and external and internal fruit colour) were evaluated up to 96 hours, maintaining the fruit at two different temperatures, T1 (+8°C) and T2 (+17°C). A trained sensory panel was conducted at 96 hours to confirm the quality of avocado cv. Hass ripened with exogenous C2H4.

4-hexylresorcinol and sodium metabisulphite-based edible coatings for avocado shelf-life extension

“…The firmness of avocados decreases as the storage time progresses; this is mainly due to the hydrolysis of cell wall polysaccharides by sev-eral enzymes (i.e., pectinase, polygalacturonase and 𝛽-galactosidase) ( Defilippi et al, 2018 ;Giuggioli et al, 2021 ). Nevertheless, in the current study, the firmness values did not differ significantly from day 1 to 10 ( Table 2 ).…”

“…The skin of Hass avocados changes colour from green to purple/black during storage due to the chlorophyll degradation and synthesis of pigments such as cyanidin 3-O-glucosidase ( Giuggioli et al, 2021 ;Kassim & Workneh, 2020 ;Zafar & Sidhu, 2018 ). As a result, avocado skin loses brightness registering lower L * values over time ( Cenobio-Galindo et al, 2019 ;Saucedo-Pompa et al, 2009 ;Sierra et al, 2019 ).…”

Non-destructive identification of varieties of Hawaii-grown avocados using near-infrared spectroscopy: Feasibility studies using bench-top and handheld spectrometers

“…DM content is associated with fatty acid content, which differs among avocado varieties as well as harvesting stages. For example, the DM content of Hass avocado is between 30 and 37%, depending on the harvest time, and the DM content of Reed avocado was reported to increase by 33% from the early to the late harvesting stage [ 26 – 28 ]. DM content is also affected by respiration rate and increased ripening, and high levels of fat are concentrated in the pulp at the expense of DM during ripening [ 29 ].…”

“…DM content is also affected by respiration rate and increased ripening, and high levels of fat are concentrated in the pulp at the expense of DM during ripening [ 29 ]. Storages at cold room temperatures (5 °C and 10 °C) are reported to considerably slow down the metabolic activities of avocado fruits, thus slowing down the decrease in dry matter in the same storage period [ 26 ]. All 60 avocados analyzed were harvested mature, stored between 4°C and 6°C, and left to ripen at room temperature for 3 days before measurements, to minimize the variations caused by different conditions.…”

The effect of storage temperature on the quality of avocado fruits from different climatic zones

“…The main suppliers of avocado fruits to the world market are RSA, Peru, Israel and Kenya, Mexico, Spain, and Chile. The main feature of avocado, distinguishing it from other fresh fruits, is a high mass fraction of lipids, which can vary depending on the type, country of origin, and harvest season, ranging from 3-30% and is 23.5% on average [2]. Unlike lipids of animal origin, avocado lipids are easier to digest and do not contain cholesterol.…”