Influence of hot water treatments on postharvest physicochemical characteristics of Hayward and Jintao kiwifruit slices

The effect of precutting hot water treatments on the quality of minimally processed kiwifruits was studies. Whole fruits were subjected to hot water dipping (HWD) at 45 8C for 25 or 75 min, minimally processed, packed and stored at 0 8C for 8 days. Weight loss, respiration rate, gas composition, texture, color, titratable acidity, pH, soluble solids content, sensory analysis, vitamin C, total polyphenols, antioxidant capacity, and microbial analysis were investigated. An overall beneficial effect of HWD 45 8C/75 min on the postharvest quality was observed. The fruits subjected to this treatment showed lower respiration rate, maintained the initial color and presented a better visual quality compared to the control. Moreover, both in Hayward and Jintao, heat treatments inhibited the microbial growth during storage. The study selected HWD 45 8C/75 min as the optimal combination to retain postharvest quality of fresh-cut kiwifruit for the cold storage period and throughout the supply chain.