Enzymatic activity and post-harvest quality of ‘Galia’ melon under storage temperatures and modified atmosphere

Abstract

‘Galia’ melon is a climacteric fruit with reduced shelf life, thus the goal of this work was to evaluate the post-harvest quality of fruits stored under normal and modified atmosphere at different temperatures. Fruits from cultivar Solarnet were stored under normal atmosphere (control) and modified atmosphere at 3, 7 and 11 oC and relative humidity of 90 ± 5%. Fruit evaluations were performed at 14, 21, 28 and 35 days of storage for pulp firmness, mass loss, internal and external appearance, chilling injury, total soluble phenolics, soluble sugars and enzymes polyphenoloxidase, peroxidase and catalase. Storage at 11 oC had the lowest pulp firmness and bigger mass loss in both atmospheres. Storage at 3 oC under modified atmosphere had the best postharvest conservation, but induced chilling injury, with development of superficial brown spots. ‘Galia’ melons showed higher peroxidase activity under storage at 3 °C in both storage atmospheres.