Preserving postharvest storage quality of fresh-cut cactus pears by using different bio-materials

Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller) is an important food source for human beings but its consumption and marketability are limited due to the presence of spines and glochids on the fruit surface. Fresh-cut, ready-to-eat cactus pears have higher preference than the whole fruits. However, fresh-cut fruits have tissue wounding and quick deterioration, which decrease the marketability of the products. Therefore, present study was aimed to improve the storage quality of ready-to-eat cactus pears with the application of environmentally friendly bio-materials. Fruits of present study were hand collected by a traditional way from a farm located in Yayla village of Northern Cyprus. Fruits were then peeled to prepare fresh-cut prickly pears for further experiments. Fruit peeling was carried out in three steps: (i) slicing off and discarding the both ends of the prickly pears, (ii) making one long vertical slice down the body, and (iii) peeling back the skin by sliping our finger into the slice and preparing a peeled prickly pear without skin. The six treatments of present study are: (1) control—dipping the fruits into distilled water, (2) covering the fruits with Vitis vinifera leaves, (3) dipping the fruits into jelly, (4) dipping the fruits into Aloe vera gel, (5) dipping the fruits into Portulaca oleracea extract and (6) dipping the fruits into cactus gel. Totally 108 fruits (replications) were used for each treatment and 18 fruits from each treatment were selected for quality analysis with 3-days interval (3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 days). Fruits of each treatment (6 from same treatment) were placed into an open plastic box (dimensions: 20 * 13 * 5 cm; material: PET) and was covered with a stretch film (LLDPE, 10 µm) for storage. The fruit boxes were stored at storage rooms adjusted to 5 ± 1 °C and 55 ± 5% relative humidity. Results showed that, all treatments have varying positive effects on the prevention of weight loss. Among them, the highest positive effect was received from A. vera gel treatment (0.98%), and is followed by cactus gel (1.15%), V. vinifera leaf (1.39%) and jelly (1.61%) at the end of the experiments (18 days). A. vera gel and cactus gel were also found to have highest influence on the prevention of off-odor and decay incidence; and to protect the sensory and visual quality of the ready-to-eat cactus pears. Results suggested that the postharvest storage duration of ready-to-eat cactus pears might be extended from 9 to 15 days with the use of Aloe vera gel or cactus gel.