Effects of different postharvest treatments on quality of certain lemon (Citrus limon L.) cultivars

Losses occur in many stages of the production and consumption chain of fresh fruits and vegetables. In this study, in order to reduce the shelf life losses and to maintain the quality of lemons of cut and light varieties; Ultraviolet-C (UV-C), Ultrasound (ULT), Hot Water Dip (HWD) and Modified Atmosphere Package (MAP) applications and their combinations were applied and quality changes in fruits during 10 and 20 days storage at 20 °C were examined. The lowest weight loss in kutdiken lemon was recorded 0.21% in MAP+HWD application. Similarly, the applications of MAP, MAP+HWD, Ult+UV-C+HWD+MAP in Aydın lemon were found to give the best results. Similar to the effect of MAP application on weight loss, HWD application was the most effective application on both cultivars of decay losses. Decays decreased in all applications including hot water application (HWD 0.00%, Ult+ HWD 0.00%, MAP+HWD 0.00% MAP+HWD 0.00%) The lowest decay in Aydın limon was realized as 1.67% in Ult+HWD application. in kutdiken lemon fruit 3.13 to 6.51% acidity, 5.50-7.33% soluble solids, 19.56-45.30 L, 3.29-12.94 a, 3.40-30.11 b, 12.91-31.72 hue, 7.60-32.89 Chroma, 2.92-3.18 pH, 5.60-6.65 width (mm), 6.72-8.50 fruit height (mm), 692.00-7374.33 (ppm) CO2, 60.23-68.83% relative humidity in MAP, 0.44-0.55 polygalacturonase activity, in sensory evaluations; 4.50-5.00 general appearance, 4.50-5.00 color, 2.67-3.00 taste values were determined. In Aydın lemon cultivar, acidity between 4.58% and 6.10%, 6.00-6.83% soluble solids, 19.49-43.18 L, 2.99-11.95 a, 1.58-26.35 b, 11.37-47.77 hue, 5.65-31.06 Chroma, 2.85-3.17 pH, 5.22-6.33 fruit width (mm), 0.33-0.45 polygalacturonase activity, in sensory evaluations; 3.33-5.00 general appearance, 3.33-4.17 colors, 1.00-2.33 taste values were determined. In shelf life of lemons; it was found that MAP+SS applications reduced weight and decay, maintain other quality values and gave optimal results.