Effectiveness of Ozone on Postharvest Conservation of Pear (Pyrus communis L.)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ozone (O3) treatment on postharvest quality of pear cv. ‘Williams’. Pears were exposed to gaseous ozone at the concentration of 100 ppm for 60 minutes in a flow rate of 2.3 L min-1 and stored in BOD incubators at 25 ± 2°C, 75-85 % relative humidity, for 13 days. Fruit quality was evaluated at the beginning and at days 3, 6, 9 and 13 of storage for the following variables: Fresh Mass Loss (FML), Titratable Acidity (TA), Total Soluble Solids (TSS), pH and microbiological examination (total aerobic mesophilic count and total yeast and mold count). The variables Fresh Mass Loss (FML) and Total Soluble Solids (TSS) were significantly affected by the ozone treatment. In general, the microorganism counts in ozonatedpears were lower than those in untreated pears. The treatment with gaseous ozone increased the shelf life of the pears with efficient microorganism control, did not affect the quality parameters pH and titratable acidity and delayed soluble solids increase.