Volatile Compounds and Quality Characteristics of Fresh-Cut Apples and Mixed Fruits Coated with Ascorbic Acid during Cold Storage

Andri Jaya Laksana, Jong-Hoon Kim, Jae-Hwan Ahn and Ji-Young Kim ()
Additional contact information
Andri Jaya Laksana: Department of Biosystems Machinery Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
Jong-Hoon Kim: Food Safety and Distribution Research Group, Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI), Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea
Jae-Hwan Ahn: Food Safety and Distribution Research Group, Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI), Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea
Ji-Young Kim: Food Safety and Distribution Research Group, Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI), Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Fresh-cut apples are commonly known as minimally processed agricultural products because of their convenience and ease of consumption. However, during storage, the quality of the apple rapidly changes after cutting due to enzymatic and non-enzymatic processes. This study aimed to monitor the quality changes and volatile compounds in fresh-cut apples at various temperatures using an electronic nose. The quality relationships of the product during distribution and storage using cold chain systems were also evaluated. The results showed that the total viable count initially differed between fresh-cut apples (2.59 Log CFU/g) and mixed fruits (apple ‘Hongro’, kumquat, and cherry tomatoes) (3.2 Log CFU/g) during the storage period ( p < 0.05). There were no significant differences ( p > 0.05) in the physicochemical properties except for the firmness, color values, browning index, whiteness index, and titratable acidity. The volatile compounds found in fresh-cut apples indicating apple fruit aroma were propyl propanoate and ethyl isovalerate, hexanol (freshness), and methanethiol and ethyl acetate (unpleasant off-odor), and these compounds could be used as markers for the deterioration process in fresh-cut apples during storage. Methanethiol and ethyl acetate were correlated with microbial growth (Pearson correlation of 0.81–0.98 for total viable microbe and 0.49–0.90 for coliform count). The limonene level was higher in the mixed fruits than in other treatments and gradually increased during storage due to the kumquat.

Keywords: ascorbic acid; cold chain systems; electronic nose; fresh-cut apple; mixed fruits; quality changes; storage; temperature; volatile compounds (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/3/474/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/3/474/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:3:p:474-:d:1357689

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().