The Influence of Postharvest Storage on Quality Characteristics of Fruit of Eggplant Cultivars

Abstract

Quality changes of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) fruits, as affected by short-term storage at simulated retail conditionswere investigated. The fruits were obtained from greenhouse-grown plants. The cultivars chosen for the experiment were:‘Scorpio’, ‘Oscar’, ‘Tango’ and DRA 2086. The fruits were harvested in the middle of June, at marketable maturity, wrappedwith stretch film and stored for one week at 16oC temperature. Before and after storage there were determined: fruit firmness,puncture load of flesh, colour of skin with CIE L*a*b* system, soluble solids content, total phenolics content in fruit flesh andskin, free phenolic acids in flesh and skin (with HPLC method). Sensory quality of the fruits was determined with quantitativedescriptive analysis in expert panel, using 19 quality attributes. Results of the experiment showed that both the storage and thegenotype affected several quality attributes of the fruits concerning physical characteristics and chemical composition, whichcan be perceived by instrumental and sensory methods. Flesh firmness and flesh puncture load decreased, as well as solublesolids content. Total phenolics content in fruit skin increased during storage, but the content in flesh was not affected. Fromfree phenolic acids, chlorogenic acid was found in the highest amount, and its content in fruits decreased during storage.