Quality and microbiological analysis of fresh-cut yellow kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis Planch)

Abstract

Yellow kiwifruit may be minimally processed to successfully produce ready-to-eat fresh-cuts fruit. The aim of this work was to study the effect of minimal processing on two cultivars of yellow kiwi ('SunGold' and 'Jinyan') fruit ripened a 20°C of storage after harvest. 'SunGold' and 'Jinyan' kiwi fruit slices obtained from fruit stored at 20°C for 3 and 2 months, respectively. Yellow kiwi fruit were sharp at ripened stage of 25±0.9 N and packaged in PLA box macroforated for 5, 7 and 12 days of storage at 5°C. At the end of each storage period, firmness, weight loss, visual quality, color (CieLab*), phenols content, antioxidant activity, microbiological analysis, TSS, TA and taste score analysis were measured. Our results showed significant differences between cultivars in terms of SST, color change, L* during storage. 'Sun Gold' kiwi slices showed the highest mean values in terms of phenols and antioxidant activity on the 7th day. Cultural-dependent microbiological approach revealed that yellow kiwi fruit did not host spoilage and pathogenic bacteria during cold storage. Only the presence of unicellular and filamentous fungi, about 4.0 log CFU g-1, was detected in 'SunGold' kiwifruit on the 7th day of storage.