Refrigerated storage of fresh-cut pineapple fruit. Changes in physical-chemical and sensory attributes

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the changes generated during the refrigerated storage caused by the type of cutting and type of packing in `Honey Gold´ pineapple fruit Pineapple is a tropical fruit appreciated for its flavor and color suitable for application of fresh-cut technology. The fruits were selected, sorted, sanitized, shell, crown and heart were removed and cuts in slices, strips and pineapple cubes were obtained, packed in PET boxes, polystyrene trays with PVC and vacuum polyethylene bags. During 15 days of cold storage at 5 ± 1 °C and 85-90% of relative humidity, the percentage of leakage juice, color parameters and sensory analysis were evaluated, applying descriptive statistics and variance analysis. The pineapple sliced, without any type of edible coating, vacuum packed and refrigerated is the condition that provided the best quality attributes, potentiating a shelf-life up to 12 days.