Efficacy of ethanol vapor releasing pad to maintain the quality of fresh cut mango during display

Fresh-cut mango is considered as one of the most consumed products with the increasing market growth year by year. However, there are problems of fresh-cut mango due to surface browning and microbial contamination. These problems limit shelf life and consumer acceptance of fresh-cut mango. This research was studied on the effect of ethanol vapor on reducing browning incidence and microbial growth on fresh cut mango. Application of ethanol vapor releasing pad (EP) at various sizes from 0.3, 0.6 and 1.0 g on physiological changes of fresh-cut ‘Nam Dok Mai Sri thong’ mango during cold storage was investigated. Fresh-cut mango was placed into semi rigid packaging with containing the ethanol pad and stored at 10 ºC. The results showed that L*, b*, chroma and hue angle values of fresh-cut mango showed no significant difference among treatments. However, the fresh-cut mango was kept in package containing 0.3 g EP delayed the increasing of browning pigment and maintained overall acceptance score when compared to the other treatments. This treatment also revealed the trend of inducing antioxidant capacity and reducing PPO activity of fresh-cut mango. The results revealed that the usage of 0.3 g EP could be an alternative way to be utilized with hurdle techniques gaining synergistic effects to maintain the quality of fresh cut produce during cold storage or display.