Role of a corona field application in the physicochemical properties of stored strawberries

Grey mould disease caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea Pers is widely distributed on strawberries as the dominant postharvest disease. Therefore, fruits have been treated using a pin-to-plate corona electrical field at a high voltage electric field (HVEF) intensity of 3.61, 4.56, and 5.13 kV·cm–1 for 60 minutes. The result revealed that the corona discharge demolished the B. cinerea growth using 20 kV·cm–1 for 10 min in the Petri dishes. In addition, the treated strawberries at 4.56 kV·cm–1 had an average infection rate of 23.33% compared with non-treated samples rate of 45.33%. The HVEF-treated samples showed significantly lower mass losses. The analysis of variance showed that the HVEF did not significantly affect the total soluble solids content, pH, titratable acidity, and softness; however, the lower acidity affected the Botrytis cinerea growth. No significant differences were observed among the mean values in the colour change parameters and colour difference for 4.56 kV·cm–1 compared with the control, while the lightness was significantly higher. The result show that the corona electrical field was able to demolish the B. cinerea growth, and an electric field intensity at 4.56 kV·cm–1 was found to extend the strawberries’ cold storage and to lead to a lower mass loss.