Improve the Cantaloupe Fruit Quality and Shelf Life Using a Forced-Air Cooling System

(Mostafa M. Azam and Ayman H. Amer Eissa and Hasan A. Al-Hashem)

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Abstract

Increasing the shelf life of agricultural products is an important challenge of food science engineering. This study aimed to use a forced-air cooling system at a constant airflow rate of 2.4 m3/s to improve the physico-chemical, texture properties, and shelf life of cantaloupe fruits under cold storage. Different packages (foam, plastic and carton) were used during four storage periods (0, 10, 20 and 30 days). Physio-chemical properties including weight loss, firmness, color, TSS, pH and respiration rate were measured and evaluated. Texture properties (hardness, cohesiveness, chewiness and resilience) were measured. From the experimental data, the final temperatures reached after 140 minutes were 7 and 10ºC for different packages. The cooling times 7/8th ranged from 117.5 to 132 minutes. Significant differences existed for the values of treated fruit properties compared to non-precooled fruit (control). Data also showed that firmness, color, and titratable acidity (TA) values decreased as the postharvest storage period of the fruits increased. Results showed significant differences (p <0.05) in the texture properties values of cantaloupe fruits packed in foam packages that protected the fruits from surrounding environmental changes.

KEYWORDS
Foam package, pre-cooling, respiration rate, shelf life, weight loss

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References

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