Changes in postharvest quality of GAC fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng) coated with sucrose fatty acid esters

Gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng) rapid ripening and senescence after harvest. Edible coatings such as sucrose fatty acid esters (SFE) have been reported to be widely used for extending storage life in many fresh produce. As less information about the postharvest technology, gac fruit at yellow stage were coated with sucrose fatty acid esters at different concentration of 0, 0.5, and 1.0% and then stored at 10°C and 90-95% RH. Gac fruit coated with 0.5 and 1.0% SFE conducted slower ripneing in terms of peel and pulp color changes, compared to control (0% SFE coating). At 1.0% SFE coating, treated fruit were slightly reduced in fruit softening and respiration rates during 16 days of storage. Fruit peel contained the hightest amount of antiocidant activity detected by DPPH assay, followed by aril and pulp. The activities were hugely reduced in peel, slightly declined in pulp and aril during storage. However, there were no significant differences in antioxidant activivities from fruit between treatments in each part of peel, pulp, and aril.