Effects of low temperature storage on blackheart incidence and quality maintenance of pineapple fruits

For controlling blackheart incidence and maintain quality of fresh pineapple, the effects of low temperature storage on blackheart incidence and major quality indices as well as the related mechanism were investigated with the main producing cultivar “Comte de Paris”. Pineapple fruits were stored at (8±1)℃ and (12±1)℃, respectively, with fruits stored at ambient temperature (26-30℃) as control. During 23 days in storage, compared with the control, both the two low temperature treatments reduced the blackheart severity, lowered the fruit mass loss, elevated contents of Vitamin C and titratable acids, and delayed the decrease of total soluble solids (TSS) content, with the storage at (8±1)℃ resulting in better effects. Moreover, the low temperature storage reduced the production rate of superoxide anion radical (O2－·), inhibited the elevation of activities of lipoxygenase (LOX) and the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA). These results indicated that the effects of low temperature in reducing pineapple blackheart severity and maintaining quality involve the reduced membrane-lipid peroxidation and slowed senescing process.