Minimisation of losses of consumer quality during storage of cherry fruits under the influence of hydrocooling and protective composition

Abstract

The need for consumption of fruit products, in particular sweet cherries and cherries, is growing every year in Ukraine. This is driven by national traditions, stakeholder needs, and the population's demand for healthy eating. Cherries are a nutritious fruit that contains such functional ingredients as essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, etc. Unfortunately, in terms of long-term storage, cherries quickly lose their quality and have a short harvest and processing period. To increase the shelf life of products, it is advisable to develop and improve methods of storage and processing of cherries. Optimisation of chilling methods for cherries before storage increases the shelf life of fresh fruit and the suitability for fresh consumption. Improving the methods of chilling cherries will help to increase the demand for its fruits by all stakeholders in the European market. The aim of the research was to establish the optimal concentration of acetic and lactic organic acids, which are included in the protective composition for processing cherry fruits, and to determine the level of daily losses of cherry fruits during hydrocooling while maintaining the global optimum point. To establish an effective cooling method, fruit losses caused by diseases of microbiological origin and physiological disorders were determined. During storage, the effect of the concentrations of the protective composition on the indicators of weight loss and the average level of daily fruit loss was studied. A regression model was built and the optimal values of the indicators were determined by stages: a regression model was built on the basis of experimental data and the global optimum point was determined on the basis of the model and a confidence interval for the optimum was built. According to the results of the research, the lowest rate of daily fruit losses at the level of 0,117%-0,121% was recorded during hydrocooling of cherry fruits using organic compositions of lactic and acetic acids in the ratio of their components of 1,25-2,25:1,50-2,25 and 1,75-2,25% with the amount of acetic acid at 1,25%, respectively. The regression analysis showed the optimal value of the average level of daily losses during storage of cherry fruits of the model variety ‘Vstrecha’ – 0,106% at the value of factors x1=2,217 and x2=1,966.