Effect of Honey and Citric Acid Treatments on Postharvest Quality of Fruits and Fresh-Cut of Guava

• Published in: World journal of agricultural sciences : WJAS 2015-01, Vol.11 (5), p.255-267
• Main Authors: Eman, A A Abd El-Moneim, Kamel, H M, Zaki, Zeinab A, Rehab, M E Abo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Phomopsis
• ISSN: 1817-3047; 1817-5082
• DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjas.2015.11.5.1865

Guava fruits and slices (fresh-cut) considered perishable commodities and have a faster rate of softening, due to their climacteric characteristic and higher metabolic process. The effects of post-harvest treatments with honey (15%) and/or citric acid (2%) compared with the control under cold storage (5+ or -1[degrees]C, with 85-90%) on quality attributes of guava fruit and slices were investigated in this study during the two successive seasons of 2013 and 2014. The mycological analysis of guava fruits and slices samples exhibited that, five fungal genera were isolated and identified. Phomopsis psidii was found to be the most dominant fungi on all samples as frequency (%) of isolated fungi (46%). Postharvest treatments significantly reduced weight loss, discarded fruits and had better firmness, also delayed changes during the ripening such as color, TSS, acidity and ascorbic acid levels. In this concern, citric acid (2%) alone or combined with honey solution (15%) significantly decreased respiration rate of guava slices. However, the obtained results demonstrate that using of citric acid (2%) alone for guava slices and combined with honey solution (15%) for guava fruits are promising to maintaining the quality attributes for 22 days during cold storage.