Effect of exposure times of gaseous ozone on quality of strawberry fruits during cold storage

Abstract

Strawberry fruits (Fragaria × ananassa) of the cultivar "Festival" were harvested at 75% maturity on 5 and 9 February in 2017 and 2018 seasons, respectively from private farm in Bader Center, Behera Governorate, Egypt and transported to the postharvest Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, to evaluate the effect of exposure times (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 min.) of ozone gas on quality attributes of strawberry fruits during storage at 0C for 21 days. Results showed that all ozone treatments of strawberry fruits reduced weight loss and did not show any decay until the end of storage period. Strawberry fruits which exposed to ozone gas for 30 min. was the most effective treatment in maintaining fruit quality, it would reduce weight loss percentage and resulted in fruits with no decay and maintained fruit firmness, TSS, ascorbic acid content, anthocyanins content and total sugars and also gave fruits with good appearance after 21 days of storage at 0C and 95 % RH as compared with the other treatments and untreated control.