Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Establishing a Consumer Quality Index for Fresh Plums (Prunus salicina Lindell)
Version 1
: Received: 15 May 2023 / Approved: 18 May 2023 / Online: 18 May 2023 (10:25:20 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Crisosto, C.H. Establishing a Consumer Quality Index for Fresh Plums (Prunus salicina Lindell). Horticulturae 2023, 9, 682. Crisosto, C.H. Establishing a Consumer Quality Index for Fresh Plums (Prunus salicina Lindell). Horticulturae 2023, 9, 682.
Abstract
Plums are primarily marketed for fresh consumption, canning, freezing, jam and jelly. Unfortunately, plum consumption has remained steady or declined. Consumers complain about a lack of flavor quality but are willing to pay for higher quality. Thus, lack of flavor and cold storage disorders are the main barriers to consumption. Plum cultivars are susceptible to gel breakdown, flesh browning and ‘off flavors’. Consumer acceptance and postharvest life are highly dependent on genotype, quality attributes, harvest date and proper postharvest handling. A consumer quality index (CQI) based on soluble solids concentration (SSC) and minimum firmness is proposed to maximize flavor and postharvest life. In most cases, late harvest increases quality attributes. Our work and industry experience demonstrated that using critical bruising thresholds (CBT) based on minimum firmness measured at harvest acts as a reliable predictor of how late to harvest safely for maximum visual and sensory quality. Plums are well adapted to late harvest because of their low susceptibility to bruising damage, but proper postharvest temperature management and marketing within the potential market life are necessary to maintain flavor and avoid the onset of storage disorders. Thus, to maximize flavor and postharvest life, a CQI based on SSC and minimum firmness measured at consumption is proposed. This article provides guidance on using this CQI, combined with proper postharvest handling techniques such as correct harvest date determination and temperature management, to maintain quality and increase consumption.
Keywords
Plum consumption; Consumer Quality Index; flesh breakdown; temperature management; critical bruising thresholds; maximum maturity; late harvest; firmness; SSC
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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