Quality of nectarine cultivars subjected to forced-air heat treatment for Mediterranean fruit fly disinfestation

Abstract

SummaryThe postharvest quality of nine early-, mid-, and late-season cultivars of California nectarines was determined following forced-air heat treatment used for quarantine disinfestation of Mediterranean fruit fly. The treatment consisted of heating the nectarines to a seed surface temperature of 47.28C for 2 min over a period of 4.h. Nectarines were evaluated after storage at 08C for 14.d and 208C for 4.d, which simulated shipping and sale of the fruit. Surface appearance, indexed by colour measurements and visual ratings, was generally unchanged by heat treatment and would have had no influence on the marketability of the fruit. A detectable change in the chroma of the internal flesh was shown in a number of cultivars, but was imperceptible when rated by visual evaluation. Heat treated fruit were firmer than unheated fruit, but retained the ability to soften. Only minor differences in soluble solids content and titratable acidity between heat treated and untreated control fruit were detected. It was ...