Effect of oxalic acid on visual appearance and quality of 'Long' longan fruit during low temperature storage

Abstract

© 2018 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved. The impacts of oxalic acid on the visual appearance and quality of Vietnamese 'Long' longan fruits during low temperature storage, was studied by soaking fruits in 5 and 7.5% oxalic acid solutions for 5 min at room temperature, and then storing them at 5±1°C for 30 days. Untreated fruits were used as control. The visual appearance expressed as browning index, and pericarp color including the lightness of fruit pericarp (L* value) and the yellowness of fruit pericarp (b* value); pericarp pH; the percentage of fruit decay; total soluble solids (TSS) content were studied. The results showed that the 5 min soaking treatment in 7.5% oxalic acid solution could delay pericarp browning for 25 days in storage which was indicated by the lowest browning index, and high L* and b* values. Moreover, this treatment maintained low pericarp pH and fruit decay, and the TSS content of longan fruit revealed no difference overtime.