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Title: Quality of fresh-cut 'Kent' mango slices prepared from hot water or non hot water treated fruit

Author
item DEA, S - UNIV OF FLORIDA
item BRECHT, J - UNIV OF FLORIDA
item NUNES, M - UNIV OF FLORIDA
item Baldwin, Elizabeth - Liz

Submitted to: American Society of Horticulture Science Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/8/2008
Publication Date: 7/21/2008
Citation: Dea, S., Brecht, J.K., Nunes, M.C., Baldwin, E.A. 2008. Quality of fresh-cut 'Kent' mango slices prepared from hot water or non hot water treated fruit. HortScience. 43:1210.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A quarantine heat treatment consisting of exposure to 46°C water for 65 to 110 minutes (depending on cultivar and fruit size) is mandated by USDA-APHIS for all mangoes (Mangifera indica L.) entering the United States. Heat treatments may affect ripening processes and induce resistance to chilling injury, and may also alter the volatile profile of fruit. However, no information has been published on the effects of quarantine heat treatments on fresh-cut fruit quality and shelf-life. This experiment addressed the effects of the mango hot water (HW) quarantine treatment T102-a on the visual, and compositional quality factors, aroma volatile production, respiration rate, and electrolyte leakage of fresh-cut 'Kent' mango slices stored at 5°C for 10 days. The experiment was repeated twice during two Florida mango seasons from two different sources; tissue firmnes s was measured in the second experiment only. Mature green mangoes were immersed in 25°C water for 2 minutes (control) or in 46°C water for 75 or 90 minutes, depending on fruit size, before being transferred to 20°C and exposed to 100-ppm ethylene for 24 hours. The fruit were allowed to ripen at 20°C until the desired ripeness stage was attained. The fruit were then transferred to 5°C overnight before being processed into fresh-cut slices. Visual quality, electrolyte leakage, firmness, and aroma volatile production (based on the quantification of 16 aroma volatiles) did not differ between the fresh-cut slices prepared from HW- and non-HW-treated fruit, but fresh-cut slices from non-HW-treated fruit had higher soluble solids content than the HW-treated samples. There were also differences between the treatments for respiration rate, titratable acidity, and pH; however, the results were contradictory between the two experiments. Overall, the results suggest that the HW quarant ine treatment does not significantly affect the quality of fresh-cut 'Kent' mango slices stored at 5°C.