Occurrence of chilling injury in fresh-cut ‘Kent’ mangoes

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Abstract

For best visual quality retention of fresh-cut fruits, the preferred storage temperature is never higher than 5 °C, which is considered a chilling temperature for chilling sensitive tropical fruit like mango. Changes in visual and compositional attributes, aroma volatile production, respiration rate, and electrolyte leakage were evaluated in whole and fresh-cut partially ripe ‘Kent’ mangoes stored for 10 d at chilling (5 °C) and non-chilling (12 °C) temperatures in order to determine if fresh-cut mangoes are subject to chilling injury at their typical handling temperature. The experiment was conducted twice during two Florida mango seasons, with fruit from two different sources. Results from the two harvests were significantly different and therefore were analyzed separately. Visual quality degradation was faster at 12 °C than at 5 °C, and limited the shelf-life of the fresh-cut mangoes to 3–4 d at 12 °C versus 5–6 d at 5 °C. Soluble solids content did not differ among whole fruit or fresh-cut slices stored at either chilling or non-chilling temperatures, but respiration rate, pH, and total ascorbic acid were all lower and titratable acidity was higher in both the fresh-cut slices and whole fruit stored at 5 °C compared with storage at 12 °C. Subjective evaluation indicated that aroma intensity declined more during storage of fresh-cut slices at 5 °C than at 12 °C, and the aroma volatiles acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, and ethyl butyrate were found to be significantly reduced in the slices stored at 5 °C, but only in the second harvest; production of alcohols (methanol and ethanol) was also lower in samples stored at 5 °C. Although electrolyte leakage was higher in fresh-cut slices than in whole fruit, no conclusion could be made regarding the effect of storage temperature. It is unclear whether the storage duration at 5 °C was sufficiently long to cause chilling injury in fresh-cut mango slices since no visual symptoms developed in whole fruit. However, lower ascorbic acid content, higher titratable acidity, reduction of volatiles, and increased softening of whole fruit at 5 °C versus 12 °C, which are all indicative of CI, suggest that the fresh-cut mango slices did experience chilling stress.

Introduction

To preserve the quality and safety of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and to extend the shelf-life, good temperature management is of prime importance. Due to their highly perishable nature, fresh-cut fruits are preferably stored at a temperature that may cause a slight amount of chilling injury (CI) over a temperature that is conducive to rapid natural deterioration (Watada and Qi, 1999). However, it is possible that low temperature storage of fresh-cut tropical fruit, like mangoes (Mangifera indica L.), may jeopardize their overall sensory quality by inducing CI.

Poor flavor retention in fresh-cut products, especially fruit, is a widely recognized problem (Beaulieu and Gorny, 2004) and may be a symptom of CI related to inhibition of aroma volatile production. Moreover, some indications that fresh-cut products are subjected to CI have been noted despite little visual manifestations. For example, elevated respiration rates in fresh-cuts compared to the corresponding whole fruit may in some cases and to some extent, be an indicator of CI (Brecht et al., 2004). Juice leakage or tissue translucency due to membrane damage and solute leakage that occurs in fresh-cut tomatoes and melons is a critical problem in commercial fresh-cut products. It has been suggested that these symptoms may be manifestations of CI in fresh-cut tropical and subtropical fruit (Hong and Gross, 2000, Hodges and Toivonen, 2008). Besides, it may be possible to extrapolate the symptoms of CI occurring in whole fruit to their fresh-cut products, such as softening or other textural changes, increased rates of electrolyte leakage (EL), skin/peel darkening, loss of pigments, and increase in CO2 production (Hodges and Toivonen, 2008).

Although CI of whole mango is well documented (Abou Aziz et al., 1976a, Abou Aziz et al., 1976b, Thomas and Oke, 1983, Chaplin et al., 1991, Lizada, 1991, Nair et al., 2004), very few studies have addressed the effect of temperature on the incidence and development of CI symptoms on fresh-cut mango (Beaulieu and Lea, 2003, Allong et al., 2000, Sothornvit and Rodsamran, 2008). In fact, most studies have indirectly reported the effect of temperature and focused on only a few quality attributes, often combined with different treatments that are known to alleviate CI, at least in whole fruit, such as coatings or modified atmosphere packaging (González-Aguilar et al., 2001, Tasneem, 2004, Pesis et al., 1997, Tefera et al., 2007). Therefore, a general conclusion regarding the occurrence of CI symptoms in fresh-cut mango remains unsettled. There may be sufficient expectation that the flavor of fresh-cut mango could be improved by avoiding chilling temperatures to justify efforts to develop supplementary treatments and procedures that allow this product to be handled at higher temperatures than those currently being used.

This study was conducted to evaluate the occurrence of CI in fresh-cut ‘Kent’ mango, using fresh-cut mango slices and whole mango fruit controls stored at chilling versus non-chilling storage temperatures.

Section snippets

Plant material

This study was conducted twice during two Florida harvest seasons. Mangoes (cv. Kent) were obtained from a commercial operation in Homestead, FL [first harvest (H1), July 2006] and from the University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, FL [second harvest (H2), July 2007]. Fruit were removed from the field with minimal delay after harvest and transported to the postharvest laboratory in Gainesville, FL, within approximately 6 h. Mangoes where selected based on

Subjective quality

Storage duration and temperature had a significant effect on the visual quality of fresh-cut ‘Kent’ mango slices (Table 1). The visual quality (edge and tissue damage, overall color, spoilage, and desiccation) and aroma of slices from both harvests and storage temperatures decreased consistently during storage but the changes were significantly faster at 12 °C than at 5 °C (Fig. 1).

In this study, the marketability limit for the fresh-cut mango slices was determined when one or more attributes

Conclusion

This study compared the effect of chilling (5 °C) and non-chilling (12 °C) storage temperatures on the quality and physiology of fresh-cut ‘Kent’ mango slices and whole mango fruit controls. The most striking difference between the two storage temperatures was the appearance and aroma of the slices and to a lesser extent their compositional changes. While the shelf-life of fresh-cut mango slices based on visual appearance was about 5–6 d at 5 °C versus 3–4 d at 12 °C, the mango aroma intensity

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