Effect of cooling delays on quality attribute of globe artichoke during cold storage

Abstract EN

Artichoke heads of the cultivar "French Hyrious" were harvested at the suitable maturity stage of marketing with a dimension of (7-12 cm) on 14^th and 16^th of February in 2017 and 2018 seasons, respectively from Borg El-arab farm, Behera Governorate and shifted to the laboratory of Vegetable Handling Research Department, Horticultural Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center.

To study the effect of cooling delay treatments for 2, 4 and 6 hr.

from harvest compared with uncooled treatment (control) on quality attributes of artichoke heads during storage at 0^oC.

Results showed that all cooling delay treatments reduced weight loss percentage and maintained head compactness as compared with uncooled during storage.

Cooling delay for 2 hr.

after harvest was the most effective treatment for maintaining quality and storability of head, which gave the lowest value of weight loss % , maintained ascorbic acid content and TSS % , delay color change and gave heads with good appearance for 28 days of storage at 0^oC.

However, the allowable maximum for cooling delay between harvest and the start of initial cooling for artichoke heads was 4 hr.

, which generally did not affect the postharvest quality and gave good appearance after 28 days of storage at 0^oC.

Non cooled treatment rated poor appearance at the end of storage (28 days at 0^oC).