Quality of Fresh Cut Zucchini as Affected by Cultivar,Maturity at Processing and Packaging

Appropriate plant material at processing and film packaging selection has a strong influence on product quality preservation. This is the first report studying the feasibility for minimal processing of four zucchini cultivars at two maturity stages, immature (MS1) and mature, stored at 6 °C during 10 days under different packaging conditions. The treatments consisted a 4 × 2 × 2 × 3 factorial combination of variety, maturity at processing, film packaging and storage time, including correlation studies between quality parameters. Negative effect on final quality after processing at MS1 was observed as a result of a higher respiration rate (between 15.91 and 20.12% than at mature), CO₂ production and soluble solid consumption contributing to loss of firmness, slice discolouration and less overall quality. After 10 days under 25 µm film, cv. ‘Cronos’ showed the highest values in total chlorophylls (9.03 mg/100 g FW), while slices at MS1 suffered a noticeable oxidative stress increasing the total phenolic content (cv. ‘Parador’ > ‘Amalthée’ > ‘Cronos’ > ‘Cassiope’). At the end of storage, the highest vitamin C content was observed in trays sealed with 25 µm film (more evident in cv. ‘Cronos’ at MS1). In conclusion, processing more mature zucchini and 25 µm film packaging were the most effective combination for preserving quality. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.