Effect of harvesting season, maturity stage and storage temperature on internal browning and postharvest quality of ‘Phulae’ pineapple

The effect of harvesting season, maturity stage and storage temperature on internal browning (IB) and postharvest quality of pineapple ‘Phulae’ (Ananas comosus L. Merr) were investigated. Fruits were harvested at mature green and ¼ ripe stage in different seasons (rainy and winter) and stored at 10°C and 20°C with 85-90% RH for 35 days. Postharvest quality parameters including IB incidence, peel and flesh color, weight loss, total soluble solid (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, vitamin C content, total phenolic (TP) content and antioxidant activities using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays were analyzed weekly. Fruit harvested in rainy and winter and then stored at 10°C had longer storage life than those kept at 20°C. The mature green fruit had the severity of IB higher than fruit harvested at ¼ ripe stage. At 10°C, the pineapple harvested in rainy season had more IB than the pineapple harvested in winter season. The IB incidence found in fruit harvested in both seasons became more severe when the samples were kept at 10°C followed by transfer to a room temperature (25oC ± 2oC). The color changes of peel (hue angle) and flesh (L*) of the pineapple in both harvesting seasons stored at 10°C and 20°C decreased during storage, especially on the day at IB symptom occurred. Weight loss of the pineapple harvested during the rains was significantly higher than the winter in both storage temperatures. At mature green stage, there were no significant difference between harvesting seasons on TSS content, but TA content, TP contents and FRAP activity increased significantly during storage. Fruit harvested in the winter had significantly higher vitamin C content than fruit harvested in the rainy season. The harvesting season, maturity stage and storage temperature affected to IB development, storage life and postharvest quality of pineapple.