Combination of hot water with or without vitamin C treatment to control browning of sweet cherry fruit(Prunus avium L.)

Based on the preliminary experiments, fresh harvested cherries were immersed in hot water at 42℃ for 10 min with or without combination 0.1% vitamin C conditions. After the treatment, fruit browning parameters and related enzymatic activities were then evaluated after 18 days of storage at (0±0.5)℃ followed by 2 days of shelf life at (24±1)℃. The results indicated that color, flavor and taste of fruits after heat treatments were better than those with non-heat treatment. Hot-water treatment was effective in preventing from declining in values of L^* and H⁰ and increase in PAL, PPO and POD enzymatic activities of cherry fruit, and the beneficial effect can be enhanced by addition of vitamin C. The values of overall acceptability after heat treatment with or without combination of vitamin C were 7.5 or 6.9, however, the value of non-heat treatment was 5.7. Overall acceptability was positively correlated with the value of L^*, b^* and H⁰, but negatively correlated with a^* value, PPO and POD enzymatic activity(P<0.05).