Abstract
Processing, especially cutting, reduces the shelf life of fruits. In practice, fresh-cut fruit salads are, therefore, often sold immersed in sugar syrups to increase shelf life. Pre-processing short-term hot-water treatments (sHWT) may further extend the shelf life of fresh-cuts by effectively reducing microbial contaminations before cutting. In this study, fresh-cut 'Braeburn' apples, a major component of fruit salads, were short-term (30 s) hot water-treated (55 °C or 65 °C), partially treated with a commercial anti-browning solution (ascorbic/citric acid) after cutting and, thereafter, stored immersed in sugar syrup. To, for the first time, comprehensively and comparatively evaluate the currently unexplored positive or negative effects of these treatments on fruit quality and shelf life, relevant parameters were analyzed at defined intervals during storage at 4 °C for up to 13 days. Compared to acid pre-treated controls, sHWT significantly reduced the microbial loads of apple slices but did not affect their quality during the 5 day-standard shelf life period of fresh-cuts. Yeasts were most critical for shelf life of fresh-cut apples immersed in sugar syrup. The combination of sHWT and post-processing acid treatment did not further improve quality or extend shelf life. Although sHWT could not extend potential maximum shelf life beyond 10 d, results highlighted the potentials of this technique to replace pre-processing chemical treatments and, thus, to save valuable resources.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Hot-water treatment significantly reduced microbial loads on apple slices versus acid-pretreated controls.
- Taxon
- apple
Malus domesticae0 - Treatment
- sHWTe0
- Outcome
- microbial loads of apple slicese0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Comparator
- acid pre-treated controlse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Compared to acid pre-treated controls, sHWT significantly reduced the microbial loads of apple slices”
Claim · model-written summary
Hot-water treatment did not affect apple-slice quality during the standard five-day shelf life.
- Taxon
- AppleMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- sHWTe0
- Outcome
- qualitye0
- Direction
- did not affecte0
- Qualifier
- during the 5 day-standard shelf life periode0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“sHWT significantly reduced the microbial loads of apple slices but did not affect their quality during the 5 day-standard shelf life period of fresh-cuts”
t0“Apple”
Claim · model-written summary
Yeasts were the most critical factor for shelf life of fresh-cut apples in syrup.
- Taxon
- applesMalus domesticae0
- Interactor
- Yeastse0other
- Outcome
- shelf life of fresh-cut applese0
- Qualifier
- immersed in sugar syrupe0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Yeasts were most critical for shelf life of fresh-cut apples immersed in sugar syrup”
Claim · model-written summary
Combining hot-water treatment with postprocessing acid did not further improve apple quality.
- Taxon
- AppleMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- combination of sHWT and post-processing acid treatmente0
- Outcome
- qualitye0
- Direction
- did not further improvee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The combination of sHWT and post-processing acid treatment did not further improve quality or extend shelf life”
t0“Apple”
Claim · model-written summary
Combining hot-water treatment with postprocessing acid did not extend apple shelf life.
- Taxon
- AppleMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- combination of sHWT and post-processing acid treatmente0
- Outcome
- shelf lifee0
- Direction
- did not further improve quality or extende0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The combination of sHWT and post-processing acid treatment did not further improve quality or extend shelf life”
t0“Apple”
Claim · model-written summary
Hot-water treatment did not extend maximum apple-slice shelf life beyond 10 days.
- Taxon
- AppleMalus domesticat0
- Treatment
- sHWTe0
- Outcome
- potential maximum shelf lifee0
- Direction
- could not extende0
- Value
- 10 de0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“sHWT could not extend potential maximum shelf life beyond 10 d”
t0“Apple”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest hot-water treatment can replace pre-processing chemical treatments and save resources.
- Taxon
- AppleMalus domesticat0
- Outcome
- replace pre-processing chemical treatments and, thus, to save valuable resourcese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“potentials of this technique to replace pre-processing chemical treatments and, thus, to save valuable resources”
t0“Apple”
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See all 42 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.