The 2011 ASHS Annual Conference

Cripps Pink apple is an interesting alternative as a fresh cut product due to its taste and attractive fresh skin appearance and flesh color. In addition, the modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is a common technique used to prolong shelf life of the fresh cut product. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of apple wedges treated with anti-browning solution (AA 0.5% w / v + EDTA 0.5% w / v) and MAP. The whole apples were immersed in NaCl₂ at 200 mg L^-1 for 5 min. Subsequently, the apples were cut in wedges, immersed in anti-browning solution, packed in MAP using films with high (HP= 6000-8000) and low (LP= 3-6)  O₂ mL m^-2  d^-1, permeability and stored for 10 d at 4 °C. Wedges immersed in tap water were used as control. At the beginning, the wedges showed a high respiration rate (20 mg kg^-1 h^-1) and after 10 days the values were about 10 mg kg^-1 h^-1, while the steady atmospheres were 7.1 and 0.6% O₂, and 3.1 and 5.1% CO₂ for HP and LP, respectively. The anti-browning solution delayed the enzymatic browning on the cut surfaces of the wedges.  After ten days of storage, L values were 75.9 and 74.2 for treated and control fruit. These data would show that the anti-browning combined with MAP delayed the changes in flesh color. The best appearance of wedges was reached by the combination of AA 0.5% w/v + EDTA 0.5% w/v and MAP with low O₂ levels (LP film). In conclusion, Cripps Pink wedges kept a good quality by using AA 0,5% p/v + EDTA 0,5% p/v under  1 to 3%O₂ and 2 to 5 %CO₂.