Serhat Usanmaz

By Hatice Serdar and Serhat Usanmaz

Pomegranate fruit is very susceptible to storage conditions, and it losses weight and quality during long storage periods. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), storage duration, and fruit size on some quality attributes of Wonderful pomegranate cultivar. Results indicated that there is a clear relationship between the fruit weight and number of arils (R2, 0.948) as expected. On the other hand, a significant relationship also exists between the number of arils and aril weight (R2, 0.973). According to the results, it is also possible to estimate the juice content of pomegranate fruits by its aril weight (R2, 0.994) and also from the fruit weight. Results also showed that modified atmosphere packaging has a clear effect on the protection of fruit weight. The loss in the fruit weight after 90 days of storage is found to be between 6.70 and 14.28% without MAP and between 2.64 and 6.24% with MAP. Similar results have been determined for aril weight and juice content. The other important result of the present study is that fruit size significantly affects the weight loss. The bigger fruits showed higher weight loss. No significant effect has been determined on the total soluble solids content of fruits for neither different sizes nor different storage conditions.

Part of the book: Postharvest Handling

By İbrahim Kahramanoğlu, Serhat Usanmaz and Chunpeng Wan

Fruits are among the most important elements of human diet. It is also well known and scientifically confirmed that fruit-based diet helps to protect human health and prevent many human diseases, mainly because of the high contents of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Since the human population on the earth is increasing, the need for fruits is also increasing. However, at the same time, the main factors of fruit production, that is, soil, water, and climate, are being damaged by human activities. Therefore, the production of the fruits and vegetables is becoming difficult. Furthermore, nearly 30% of fruits do not reach the consumers because of the postharvest losses along the fruit value chain. Therefore, prevention of the postharvest losses is highly important for ensuring the sustainability of life through consumption of wholesome fruits. In this chapter, we aim to list and discuss the traditional, innovative, and eco-friendly methods for postharvest storage of fruits. We also aim to provide most current information about these methods and provide practical information for students, scientists, farmers, food packers & sellers, and entrepreneurs engaged in fruit storage.

Part of the book: Fruit Industry