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Title: TREATMENT OF INTACT WATERMELON WITH 1-MCP PRIOR TO CUTTING PREVENTS ETHYLENE-INDUCED QUALITY DEGRADATION AND CONTROLS MICROBIAL GROWTH.

Author
item ZHOU, BIN - UIUC
item McEvoy, James
item Luo, Yaguang
item Saftner, Robert
item FENG, HAO - UIUC
item BELTRAN, TONY - AGROFRESH

Submitted to: Abstract of International Horticultural Congress
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2006
Publication Date: 4/28/2006
Citation: Zhou, B., Mcevoy, J.L., Luo, Y., Saftner, R.A., Feng, H., Beltran, T. 2006. Application of 1- methylcyclopropene reverses the deleterious effect of exogenous ethylene on fresh-cut watermelon and controls microbial growth [abstract]. International Fresh-Cut Produce Association. Paper No. 024-06.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The effects of 1- methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on microbial growth on intact and fresh-cut watermelons exposed to ethylene were investigated. Freshly harvested seedless watermelons (Citrullus lanatus, cv. Sugar Heart) were treated with 0.5 or 1.0 ppm 1- MCP, 10 ppm ethylene, 1- MCP + ethylene, or left non-treated. Fruits were processed into wedge-shaped slices, packaged into rigid trays with a 400 oxygen transmission rate film overlap and stored up to 12 days at 5 °C. At 0, 6 and 12 days, samples were taken for microbial analysis. Ethylene treatment alone progressively increased the populations of aerobic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, and yeasts and molds on the packaged slices during storage compared to those on corresponding non-treated samples and resulted in extensive juice leakage from the slices. The ethylene treatment also resulted in high aerobic bacterial counts throughout the flesh of intact melons compared to the controls. Treatment with 0.5 or 1.0 ppm 1-MCP prior to treatment with ethylene counteracted the deleterious effects of ethylene. The efficacy of the MCP treatments was not affected by the timing of the MCP treatment or by the concentration used. These results indicate that MCP pretreatment of intact watermelon blocks ethylene activity, thereby inhibiting microbial growth and tissue decay on fresh-cut watermelon.